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Goals

How to write a measurable student goal, log progress against it, and close it out — with a full worked example.

What a goal is

A goal in SocialNote is a measurable target attached to one student. It answers four questions:

• Where is the student now? — the baseline
• Where do we want them to be? — the target
• By when? — the target date
• How will we know? — the measurement method and success criteria

Because every goal carries a numeric baseline and a numeric target, SocialNote can calculate progress for you. Each time you log a measurement, the system works out how far along the goal is and labels it Not Started, Improving, No Progress, Regressing, or Met. Those labels roll up into district-level Goal Outcomes reporting, so the care you take writing a goal is what makes reporting meaningful later.

Finding goals

Goals always live under a student. Open the student, then choose Goals in the student sidebar.

The Goals list

The Goals page opens with four summary tiles across the top, then a card for each goal.

Tile	What it counts
Active Goals	Goals whose status is Active — still being worked.
Met This Year	Goals closed with a status of Met.
Linked Services	Total service log links across all of this student's goals.
Last Review	The most recent progress entry date on any of this student's goals.

Each goal card shows the title, status, domain, MTSS tier, priority, and a progress bar. Click the title to open the goal. Use Add Goal at the top right to create a new one.

Creating a goal

Click Add Goal. The form is grouped into four sections. Fields marked * are required.

1. Goal Basics

Field	What to enter
Goal Title *	One sentence naming the outcome, not the activity. Prefer "Reduce unexcused absences to 2 or fewer per month" over "Attendance check-ins." You will need to retype this exactly if you ever delete the goal, so keep it readable.
Description optional	Context a colleague would need to pick this up: what's driving the concern, what's been tried, relevant history. Encrypted at rest.
Goal Type *	Broad category: Academic, Behavioral, Social-Emotional, or Attendance.
Goal Domain *	The finer-grained bucket used in reporting — Academic Support, Attendance & Engagement, Behavior & Self-Regulation, Mental Health & Emotional Well-Being, Social Skills & Relationships, Family Support, Basic Needs & Resources, College & Career Readiness, or Other. Pick deliberately; the Goal Outcomes by Domain report groups on this.
MTSS Tier *	Tier 1 (Universal), Tier 2 (Targeted), or Tier 3 (Intensive) — the intensity of support this goal represents.
Priority *	Low, Medium, High, or Urgent. Defaults to Medium. This is for your own triage; it does not change any calculation.
Assigned Provider optional	Who owns this goal. Leave it on Assign to me to take it yourself. The list shows active staff in the student's district who have access to that student's school.

2. Timeline

Field	What to enter
Start Date *	When the goal period begins. Defaults to today. SocialNote uses this date to file the goal under the right academic year automatically.
Target Date *	When you expect the target to be reached. Must be on or after the start date. A grading period or semester end is usually a good choice.
Review Frequency *	Weekly, Monthly, or Quarterly. Drives the "Next Review Due" reminder on the goal page.

3. Measurement

This is the section that makes the goal calculable. Each value has a numeric field (used for math) and an optional display field (shown to humans).

Field	What to enter
Baseline Display optional	The starting point in plain language — 8 absences/month.
Baseline Numeric *	The same starting point as a bare number — 8. Required.
Baseline Date optional	When the baseline was measured. Defaults to today.
Target Display optional	The target in plain language — 2 absences/month.
Target Numeric *	The target as a bare number — 2. Required.
Target Unit optional	What the numbers are counted in — unexcused absences per month. Displayed next to the numbers on the goal page.
Direction *	Increase, Decrease, or Maintain. This tells SocialNote which way is "better" — get it wrong and improvement will read as regression.
Measurement Type *	Frequency, Percent, Scale, Count, Days, or Custom. A label for the kind of number you're tracking.
Tolerance optional	A margin around the baseline, in the same units. Movement inside this margin counts as no real change rather than improvement or regression. See How progress is calculated.
Measurement Method *	Where the number comes from — Monthly attendance report from PowerSchool. Be specific enough that a colleague could pull the same number.

4. Success

Field	What to enter
Success Criteria *	The written condition for calling this goal met — including how long the change has to hold. Encrypted at rest.
Framework Alignment optional	A standard or framework this maps to, such as an ASCA mindset/behavior standard or an IEP objective number.

Worked example: reducing absences

Marcus is a 9th grader averaging eight unexcused absences a month. You're picking him up for Tier 2 attendance support this semester. Here is the goal, field by field.

How progress is calculated

Every time you log a progress entry, SocialNote compares three numbers — the baseline, the target, and the value you just logged — and produces a percentage plus a status. The percentage is always clamped between 0% and 100%.

Decrease goals

percent = (baseline − current) ÷ (baseline − target) × 100

Then the status, checked in this order:

Condition	Status	Meaning
current ≤ target	Met	Target reached.
current < baseline − tolerance	Improving	Meaningfully below the starting point.
current ≤ baseline + tolerance	No Progress	Still inside the noise band around baseline.
anything higher	Regressing	Moving away from the target.

Running Marcus's goal — baseline 8, target 2, tolerance 1 — through a semester:

Month logged	Value	Percent	Status	Why
September	8	0%	No Progress	Inside the tolerance band around baseline.
October	6	33%	Improving	Below 8 − 1, so it counts as real movement.
November	4	67%	Improving	Two thirds of the way from 8 down to 2.
December review	3	83%	Improving	Close to the target, but not there yet.
December target date	2	100%	Met	Reached the numeric target.

Had November come in at 10, the raw percentage would be negative, so it clamps to 0%, and because 10 is above 8 + 1 the entry would be labeled Regressing.

Increase goals

percent = (current − baseline) ÷ (target − baseline) × 100

Same logic mirrored: Met once current reaches or passes the target, Improving once it rises above baseline + tolerance, No Progress while it stays within tolerance of baseline, and Regressing if it falls below that band.

Maintain goals

Maintain goals ignore the target entirely and only ask whether the student has stayed near the baseline. If the current value is within tolerance of the baseline, the goal is Met at 100%. Otherwise it is Regressing at 0% — there is no middle ground.

Logging progress

From the goal page, click Log Progress. The form shows the goal's baseline, current value, and target for context, then asks for the new measurement.

Field	What to enter
Date Logged *	The date the measurement applies to — not necessarily today. Defaults to today.
Measured Value *	The number. This is what drives the calculation. For Marcus in October, 6.
Display Value optional	A human-readable version shown in the history — 6 absences.
Measurement Method Override optional	Only if this particular number came from somewhere other than the goal's usual method. Leave blank to use the goal's method.
Progress Rating optional	Your own 1–5 read on how things are going. Purely subjective context — it does not affect the calculated status or percentage.
Progress Notes optional	What's behind the number: what you tried, what shifted, what's in the way. Encrypted at rest.

Saving recalculates the goal's status and percentage immediately and stamps the goal's "last measured" date.

Linking services to a goal

Service logs record the sessions you deliver. Linking them to a goal connects the effort to the outcome — how many sessions and how many minutes went into this particular target.

1. Open the goal and find the Linked Services card.
2. Click Link Service. You'll see recent service logs for this student that aren't already linked to this goal.
3. Tick every session that contributed to this goal, then save.

A service log can be linked to more than one goal, which is normal — a single check-in often serves both an attendance goal and a social-emotional one.

Reviewing a goal

At the bottom of the goal page, a Next Review Due note calculates when the next progress check should happen: the date of the most recent progress entry (or the goal's start date, if there is none yet) plus the review frequency. A monthly goal last measured on October 6 is due again on November 6.

The goal page also carries a Linked Outcome Measures card. This displays external assessment data associated with the goal; it is read-only from this screen.

Closing a goal

When a goal period ends — met or not — close it rather than leaving it Active. Closing is what feeds accurate district reporting.

Use the Close Goal form on the goal page. You'll choose a closure reason and can add a summary.

Closure Reason	Resulting status	When to use it
Met	Met at 100%	Success criteria satisfied.
Not Met	Not Met	Goal period ended without reaching the target.
Referred Out	Not Met	Handed to an outside provider or agency.
Moved	Not Met	Student left the school or district.
Escalated Tier	Not Met	Support intensified; a new goal at a higher tier replaces this one.
Other	Not Met	Anything else — explain in the summary.

Once closed, the goal keeps a Goal Closure card showing the date, reason, who closed it, and the summary.

More examples

Increase — classroom participation

Title	Increase voluntary class participation to 4 times per week
Domain / Tier	Social Skills & Relationships · Tier 2 (Targeted)
Baseline → Target	1 → 4 (unit: voluntary contributions per week)
Direction / Type	Increase · Frequency
Tolerance	0.5
Method	Weekly teacher tally sheet, collected each Friday
Success criteria	Four or more voluntary contributions per week for three consecutive weeks.

Decrease — office discipline referrals

Title	Reduce office discipline referrals to 0 per month
Domain / Tier	Behavior & Self-Regulation · Tier 3 (Intensive)
Baseline → Target	5 → 0 (unit: office referrals per month)
Direction / Type	Decrease · Count
Tolerance	0
Method	Monthly discipline report from the student information system
Success criteria	Zero office discipline referrals in two consecutive months.

Maintain — holding an attendance gain

Title	Maintain attendance at or above 92% through spring semester
Domain / Tier	Attendance & Engagement · Tier 1 (Universal)
Baseline → Target	92 → 92 (unit: % days present)
Direction / Type	Maintain · Percent
Tolerance	3
Method	Monthly attendance percentage from the district attendance report
Success criteria	Monthly attendance stays between 89% and 95% for the full semester.

Who can do what

Action	Who
View goals	Any staff member in the student's district who has access to that student's school.
Create a goal	Same as above.
Edit, close, or log progress	The goal's creator, the assigned provider, or an administrator.
Delete a goal	The goal's creator or an administrator.

If the Log Progress and Edit buttons aren't visible on a goal, it's because the goal belongs to another provider. Ask them to reassign it, or have an administrator make the change.

Field reference

Field	Required	Notes
Goal Title	Required	Max 255 characters.
Description	Optional	Encrypted.
Goal Type	Required	Academic · Behavioral · Social-Emotional · Attendance.
Goal Domain	Required	Nine options; drives domain reporting.
MTSS Tier	Required	Tier 1 · Tier 2 · Tier 3.
Priority	Required	Low · Medium · High · Urgent. Defaults to Medium.
Assigned Provider	Optional	Blank assigns the goal to you.
Start Date	Required	Determines the academic year.
Target Date	Required	Must be on or after the start date.
Review Frequency	Required	Weekly · Monthly · Quarterly.
Baseline Display	Optional	Max 100 characters.
Baseline Numeric	Required	Used in every calculation.
Baseline Date	Optional	Defaults to today.
Target Display	Optional	Max 100 characters.
Target Numeric	Required	Used in every calculation.
Target Unit	Optional	Max 50 characters.
Direction	Required	Increase · Decrease · Maintain.
Measurement Type	Required	Frequency · Percent · Scale · Count · Days · Custom.
Tolerance	Optional	Cannot be negative. Treated as 0 if blank.
Measurement Method	Required	Max 100 characters.
Success Criteria	Required	Encrypted.
Framework Alignment	Optional	Max 100 characters.