Data sgp is an analysis tool for longitudinal student assessment data that creates statistical growth plots (SGPs) which provide visual evidence of student progress relative to their academic peers. SGPs are calculated from students’ standardized test scores and covariate information using a “growth standard”, established by their prior testing history.

Educators can use SGPs to identify low performing students who need extra help and high performers who are ahead of their peers. SGPs also provide a clearer picture of what it will take for students to meet their achievement targets and goals.

SGPs can be generated for a single student or an entire class of students. The SGPs produced are comparable across classrooms, schools and even states, enabling educators to compare performance among their peers nationally. In addition, SGPs can be used to inform teacher goal setting and accountability.

To generate SGPs, a student’s standardized test scores and grade level progression are analyzed. The results are then compared to the growth standards set by the state. The percentile difference in the SGP is calculated and compared to the student’s previous test score. If the SGP is above or below the growth standard, then the student has either exceeded or failed to reach their target.

Aside from the growth percentile, teachers can get an idea of how much a student has grown by looking at their absolute score in comparison to other students’. This is the most useful metric and it helps teachers to see how far their students have come from where they were when they first took the test. The SGP can also give a teacher an idea of how to improve their teaching and to provide support for struggling students.

While SGPs are not a replacement for traditional metrics like mean, median and mode, they do provide a more accurate snapshot of a student’s performance over time. These new indicators allow for a more informed assessment of student learning and should complement current state achievement standards.

SGP data can be downloaded from each state’s website. Once a school or district has registered, it will be able to access reports specific to its needs and download individual student growth data. Many states also provide a SGP Scoreboard, which allows educators to see how students performed on each content area test.

The SGP package includes a sample WIDE format data set sgpData, which models the type of time dependent data required for the lower level functions, studentGrowthPercentiles and studentGrowthProjections. The SGPdata vignette contains more detailed instructions on how to work with this data set.

When working with SGP analyses, it is important to have the right software/hardware and to ensure that the data preparation is done correctly. In almost all cases, errors that come up during SGP analyses revert back to issues with the data preparation. Fortunately, once the data is prepared properly, SGP calculations are relatively straightforward.