---
title: Understanding cases
category: getting-started
order: 6
lastUpdated: 2026-06-08
featureAvailability: GA
roles: [admin, facilitator, teacher, district-admin]
relatedArticles: [cases/creating-cases, cases/case-lifecycle, cases/case-notes, getting-started/what-is-amplifyed]
---

## At a glance

- **Who uses it:** Everyone — cases are the central object in AmplifyED.
- **Purpose:** Conceptual overview of what a case is and how it moves through the system.

## What a case is

A **case** is a coaching record opened on behalf of a student. It bundles:

- A **concern** — academic, behavioral, attendance, SEL, family engagement.
- An **assigned facilitator** — the staff member who owns the work.
- An **attached teacher** — usually the referring teacher; gets limited visibility into the case.
- **Interventions** — what the facilitator is trying.
- **Notes** — chronological documentation.
- **Follow-ups** — when to revisit.
- **Outcome** — recorded at closure.

A student can have multiple cases open in parallel (one academic, one behavioral, for example).

## How a case starts

Two paths:

1. **From a referral** — a teacher, parent, student, or staff member submits an intake form. The submission lands in the **Cases → New** inbox. A facilitator or admin accepts it, converting the referral into a case.
2. **From scratch** — a facilitator or admin creates a case directly from **Cases → New case**, picking a student and concern.

See [Creating a case](/help/cases/creating-cases).

## How a case progresses

Cases move through statuses: New → Assigned → In Progress → On Hold → Resolved → Closed. See [Case lifecycle](/help/cases/case-lifecycle).

## Who sees what on a case

- **Assigned facilitator and admins** see everything.
- **Attached teacher** sees teacher-visible notes, can post case messages (Pro+), can submit feedback.
- **Parents** see only what is explicitly marked parent-visible (typically just the dossier export at closure).

## How a case ends

Closure with an outcome: improvement, no change, withdrawn (student left), referred out, or other. Closed cases remain readable; they just don't count toward active caseload. See [Closing cases](/help/cases/closing-cases).

## Related articles

- [Creating a case](/help/cases/creating-cases)
- [Case lifecycle](/help/cases/case-lifecycle)
- [Case notes](/help/cases/case-notes)
- [What is AmplifyED?](/help/getting-started/what-is-amplifyed)

## FAQ

**Can a teacher create a case directly?**
No — teachers submit referrals. Conversion to a case is done by a facilitator or admin so workload routing happens deliberately.

**Are cases ever deleted?**
Closed cases enter retention deletion based on your org's policy (1–25 years; default 7). See [Data retention & deletion](/help/procurement/data-retention-deletion).