In a nutshell, SGP analyses use latent achievement trait models to estimate student growth and compare them against the performance of students from an identical baseline cohort. The goal is to establish a valid measurement of student growth that is comparable across classrooms, schools, districts and states. However, estimation errors are unavoidable and must be accounted for in the analysis. To minimize these error, it is important that districts analyze their data in formats compatible with operational SGP analyses and utilize a standardized set of indicators.

While many districts have made their data available in formats compatible with SGP analyses, some are still struggling to make it usable. This is especially true for districts like Macomb and Clare-Gladwin whose SGP analyses have been published by their districts in data sets that are not easily usable by other educators. To make the data more usable, several improvements need to be made.

The first and most obvious improvement is to convert the data into a format compatible with the lower level SGP functions studentGrowthPercentiles and studentGrowthProjections. While the SGP package supports the WIDE data format, the lower level functions are designed to work with LONG data. While the conversion to LONG data can be time consuming and requires additional storage space, it is worth the effort if your district plans on running SGP analyses operationally year after year.

As a result, it is vital that districts provide teachers with tools to easily identify their students’ data in formats compatible with these operational SGP analyses. The sgpData_INSTRUCTOR_NUMBER table is an invaluable lookup function that provides instructors with unique identifiers associated with their students’ test records. This allows teachers to accurately assign students who have multiple instructors for one content area to a single instructor for that content area.

Another key SGP data table is the sgpData_STUDENTS_PERCENTILE_TABLE, which allows teachers to easily compare their student’s performance to that of other students in their grade and demographic groups. This can help them determine whether their students are outliers or average performers and inform their instructional decisions.

The sgpData_STUDENTS_PERCENTILE_TABLE is an invaluable tool for teachers and parents who want to quickly understand their child’s performance in the context of other students in their school, region or state. However, it is important to remember that this information should not be used as a replacement for traditional academic testing or other sources of student assessment data. This is particularly true for students with special needs, who may need a more comprehensive and holistic approach to their education.