Technology
The ClassLink Integration
An optional way to make signing in and rostering effortless, for schools that use it.
Why ClassLink
Built for ease, not for every school
True Progress exists to help schools understand each student clearly enough to teach them well. For that to happen, students and staff need a straightforward way into the platform, and the school's rosters need to be reflected accurately.
There is more than one way to accomplish this, and none is better than another in principle. Many schools prefer to manage rosters themselves — importing a file, or adding accounts directly — and True Progress has supported that from the beginning and continues to. Other schools would rather it happen automatically. For schools that use ClassLink, True Progress connects through it.
What ClassLink Is
A single sign-in for K–12 schools
ClassLink is an identity and access platform used across K–12 schools and by thousands of learning applications. It brings a school's digital tools together behind a single sign-in, and it keeps the accounts behind those tools current by drawing roster information directly from the school's records.
Unlike some access platforms, ClassLink is a paid subscription that a school arranges directly with ClassLink. True Progress adds no charge of its own for the integration.
Read more about ClassLink →One Sign-In
No typing for younger students
With ClassLink, a student signs in once to a personalized portal — ClassLink calls it LaunchPad — and reaches every learning application from a single place, True Progress among them, without a separate username and password for each. For older students and staff, that alone removes a daily source of lost time.
For younger students, it removes the obstacle entirely. A first-grader does not need to type a school name, a username, and a password to begin. They hold up a QuickCard — a badge with a code ClassLink recognizes through the device's camera — and they are in. The minutes ordinarily spent walking a class of young children through several login fields each, and correcting the inevitable errors, are returned to instruction. Across a year, that is a considerable amount of reclaimed classroom time.
Automatic Rostering
Accounts that stay current
Every school keeps an authoritative record of who is enrolled, which class each student belongs to, and who teaches it, held in its student information system. For schools that would like account management to be automatic, ClassLink's Roster Server reads that record and creates the corresponding accounts in True Progress. Nothing is exported by hand or uploaded, and the accounts stay current on their own through ClassLink's daily sync: when a student enrolls during the year an account appears, when a student changes sections or departs access adjusts, and when a roster changes True Progress reflects it.
Schools that prefer to manage this themselves give up nothing by doing so. Direct import and manual entry remain fully supported. ClassLink simply produces the same result without recurring effort, for those who want it that way.
Privacy
What stays private
The only information that passes between True Progress and ClassLink is what is needed to sign in and to place each student in the correct class or group: usernames, passwords, and class or group assignments. Students' assessment data — their scores, their results, their diagnostic information — is never sent to ClassLink. It remains within True Progress.
Beyond that, the school determines exactly what is shared: which students, which classes, which staff, and nothing further. Administrators set rules governing what each application receives, and schools wanting to share even less can add DataGuard, a ClassLink upgrade that masks selected personal fields before they reach a vendor. Information is encrypted in transit and at rest, with multi-factor sign-in available for staff. ClassLink does not sell student information or use it for marketing.
How It Works
Three steps, one setup
1
Connect your SIS to ClassLink
The school's student information system is connected to ClassLink, once, through Roster Server. Where ClassLink is already in use, this connection already exists.
2
Add True Progress and specify sharing
The school adds True Progress and specifies what is shared: which students, classes, and staff.
3
Accounts update automatically
Accounts are created and then kept current automatically thereafter, through ClassLink's daily sync.
Common Questions
Questions schools commonly ask
Do we need to use ClassLink?+
No. ClassLink is one option, for schools that already use it or want signing in and rostering to be automatic. Schools that prefer to import their rosters or add accounts directly can continue to do so, exactly as before, with full support.
Will this work with our student information system?+
ClassLink connects with a wide range of student information systems through Roster Server, using the OneRoster standard, with automated daily syncs. Some systems connect through a direct automated sync and others through a scheduled file exchange. You can read more about how ClassLink handles rostering at classlink.com/products/roster-server.
What information does ClassLink receive?+
Only what is needed to sign in and assign each student to the correct class or group — usernames, passwords, and class or group assignments. Assessment data is never sent to ClassLink.
Is there a cost?+
ClassLink is a subscription service that schools pay for directly. True Progress adds no charge of its own for the integration; the subscription is arranged between your school and ClassLink.
What happens when a student enrolls or leaves during the year?+
For schools using ClassLink, access adjusts automatically with the daily sync. Schools managing rosters directly update them as they normally would.
Getting Started
Start with ClassLink, or without it
Already using ClassLink
An administrator can add True Progress from the ClassLink Management Console. Add True Progress from the applications list, set the rules for which students, classes, and staff to share through Roster Server, and place it on LaunchPad for the appropriate users. They will then reach True Progress with a single sign-in.
Not yet using ClassLink
Arranging a subscription is the first step. ClassLink is offered through ClassLink directly; you can request a demonstration or a quote at classlink.com. Once your subscription is active and your student information system is connected, add True Progress from the applications list as described above.
Schools that prefer not to use ClassLink can be set up through direct roster import instead.
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