Data sgp uses longitudinal student assessment data to produce statistical growth plots (SGPs). These plots measure relative student progress based on a student’s prior test scores. SGPs help educators and parents understand how their students compare to others with similar prior test scores. The calculations behind SGPs are complex, but the results can be communicated in percentile terms that are familiar to teachers and parents.

In the initial years of the SGP project, a large amount of time was spent on developing and testing data preparation routines. As a result, running SGP analyses is relatively straightforward. For any given analysis, the bulk of the time is spent on the data preparation. Once the data is prepared correctly, all of the analyses that we assist with follow a two step process.

The first step involves translating official state achievement targets/goals into a growth standard. Once this is done, the remaining work involves determining the necessary level of student growth, as measured by SGPs, required to achieve the goal. This information is communicated to stakeholders in the form of a per/year growth target.

For a specific year, SGPs are calculated by comparing students’ current scale score to the median of a distribution of SGPs for all students who started that grade with the same prior test score. This allows educators to see how much growth is needed for a student to make good progress towards their goals. The SGPs also provide a useful tool to identify the most challenging content areas.

DESE calculates SGPs for ELA and mathematics for students in grades 4 through 8 and for grade 10 only if the previous year’s grade 10 MCAS score is valid. The SGPs are based upon the two most recent years of previous grade-level data for each student, and the growth standards are established using the average of the two highest growth rates (along with other factors).