Data SGP is a software application that analyzes longitudinal student assessment data and generates statistical growth plots (SGPs) depicting students academic progress relative to their peers. SGPs are based on standardized test scores and incorporate covariate information â they take into account prior testing history more accurately than traditional percentiles. The application enables educators to view student growth trends and identify student performance levels that require further investigation.
In addition to the SGPs, the application also produces SGP tables containing individual student growth statistics and average SGPs for subgroups such as gender and ethnicity. These tables can be imported into school information systems and provide the necessary context for additional analysis of student performance and progress towards goals.
The SGP table provides a number of important pieces of information that can help educators determine if a particular studentâs progress toward achieving their achievement goals is on track or whether or not a program is effective in reaching those students. SGPs can assist educators in making decisions about which students should be targeted for accelerated programs. In addition, SGPs can provide a measure of a studentâs proficiency by showing how much their scale score must increase over time to reach their goal.
Educators can also use SGP tables to identify students who are at risk of not achieving their goals and can provide them with appropriate instructional strategies for accelerating their learning. Data SGP is also an important tool for tracking the progression of student populations over time to identify gaps in learning and the need for additional educational services.
A key aspect of SGP is that it is a function that requires data that has been converted to the WIDE format â this is not a simple task. Fortunately, the application includes an exemplar data set called sgpData which provides 5 years of annual, vertically scaled assessment data in WIDE format. This enables users to easily use and prepare data sets for SGP analyses.
To use sgpData with the SGP application, it must contain a column for each year of a students assessment history. The first field should provide a unique student identifier. The next field must contain the grade level/time associated with each of a students assessment occurrences. The remaining fields provide the numeric scale scores associated with each of the students assessments.
SGP is a very useful and powerful tool for tracking studentsâ progress toward meeting their educational goals. However, in order to get the most out of it, it is critical to understand how SGPs are calculated and how they are interpreted. Incorrect interpretation of SGPs can lead to faulty comparisons and misunderstandings of studentsâ academic abilities. The following article explains SGPs and discusses some common mistakes that are commonly made when using them. By avoiding these mistakes, educators can ensure that they are interpreting SGPs correctly and leveraging the full potential of this powerful student assessment tool.