dashboard_guide

The Question Behind the Dashboard

The dashboard is designed to answer one central question:

Where are families leaving the application process, and what can the school do about it?

The dashboard follows the family journey from the first request for an application through abandonment, submission, and possible recovery. It helps school leaders distinguish low interest from process abandonment, and permanent loss from delayed enrollment.

Read the Story from Left to Right

Application Requests

Never Started

Started, Not Submitted

Submitted

Recovered

Not Recovered

Application Requests

The starting point of the enrollment funnel

Question answered: How many application opportunities did the school receive?

An Application Request is created when a parent enters an email address and requests a magic link. This is the first measurable expression of interest in the school.

What this tells you: This number measures application opportunities, not necessarily unique families. One parent may request more than one application link.

Why this is actionable: If requests are low, the school may need more awareness, outreach, tours, referrals, or website traffic. If requests are high but submissions are low, the problem is later in the process.

Never Started

Interest was expressed, but the application was never opened

Question answered: How many parents requested an application but never opened it?

These parents clicked Apply, entered an email address, and requested an application link, but they never used the link to open the application.

What this may mean: The parent may have become distracted, missed the email, found it in spam, changed plans, or intended to return later. The report identifies where the journey stopped; it does not assume why.

Why this is actionable: These families are the first recovery opportunity. A reminder can resurface the active link or explain how to request a new one if the original link expired.

Started, Not Submitted

The application was opened, but it was not completed

Question answered: How many parents started an application but did not submit it?

These parents opened the application and began entering information, but they stopped before the final submission.

What this may mean: The parent may have needed information, found a question confusing, encountered a technical issue, selected another school, or planned to finish later.

Why this is actionable: These families may be the strongest recovery opportunity because they have already invested time. A reminder can return them directly to the application.

Submitted

The opportunity became a completed application

Question answered: How many application requests resulted in a completed application?

Submitted is the successful outcome of the application funnel. When compared with Application Requests, it provides the request-to-submission conversion rate.

What this tells you: The school can see how effectively initial interest becomes a completed application.

Why this is actionable: This establishes the baseline that can later be compared against reminder campaigns, process improvements, and clearer communication.

Recovered — Same School Year

The family returned during the original enrollment cycle

Question answered: How many families abandoned the process but later submitted for the same school year?

A same-year recovery occurs when the same normalized primary email address later submits for the same school and the same school year as the original abandonment event.

What this tells you: Not every abandonment is permanent. Some families simply need more time, another visit to the site, or a reminder.

Why this is actionable: This will become a key measure of whether automated recovery reminders improve completion during the active enrollment cycle.

Recovered — Any School Year

The family eventually returned in the same or a later cycle

Question answered: Did the family eventually submit for the same school, even if the submission occurred in a later school year?

Any-year recovery follows the family beyond the original cycle. The match requires the same school and normalized primary email address, but the successful submission may occur in the same or a later school year.

Example:
A parent abandons a 2025/26 application and later submits for 2026/27.

Recovered — Same School Year: No
Recovered — Any School Year: Yes

Why this is actionable: It prevents the school from treating every prior-year abandonment as a permanently lost family and reveals longer-term family interest.

Outstanding — Selected School Year

Families who did not complete the original enrollment cycle

Question answered: How many unique families did not submit for the selected school year?

This is a unique-family measure based on normalized primary email address. A family may have made multiple requests, but it should be counted once here.

What this tells you: These families did not convert during the selected cycle. Some may have submitted in a later year; others may never have returned.

Why this is actionable: During an active cycle, these families are the current pool of recovery opportunities before deadlines or available seats are exhausted.

Never Recovered

Families with no later submission in any school year

Question answered: How many unique families never returned and submitted an application for the school?

Never Recovered identifies families for whom no qualifying later submission can be found for the same school in the same or any later school year.

What this tells you: These families are the unresolved portion of the funnel. The school knows they expressed interest, but it does not yet know what prevented completion.

Why this is actionable: A future voluntary survey can ask what changed their mind and identify issues such as transportation, communication, application complexity, technical problems, or competing schools.

What the Detail Reports Add

The dashboard explains what is happening. The detail reports identify the specific events and families behind the summary numbers.

Never Started Report

Shows each request that was never opened, plus same-year recovery, any-year recovery, recovery school year, and submission date.

Started, Not Submitted Report

Shows each application that was opened but not completed, including request date, start date, time to start, and later recovery.

Two Different Types of Counts

Event Counts

Application Requests, Never Started, Started Not Submitted, and Submitted measure activity. One family may create more than one event.

Unique Family Counts

Recovery and outstanding-family measurements count normalized primary email addresses so the same family is not counted multiple times.

The Big Picture

Taken together, these measurements tell the complete story of the enrollment funnel. Interest begins with an Application Request. Some families never open the application. Some begin but do not finish. Some submit immediately. Others return days, months, or even a school year later.

The first release establishes the baseline. Future recovery automation can then be measured against that baseline, allowing schools to see whether reminders increase completion and which families remain unrecovered.

The purpose of the dashboard is not simply to count abandonment. It is to help schools understand, recover, and continuously improve the enrollment journey.