What is Data SGP?

Data sgp is a set of classes and functions that use large scale, longitudinal education assessment data to calculate student growth percentiles and projections/trajectories. Quantile regression techniques are used to estimate the conditional density associated with a given student’s performance and the percentile growth projections/trajectories are then calculated using these estimated coefficient matrices. The result is a snapshot of a students’ relative academic progress toward meeting future achievement targets.

SGPs are reported in a variety of formats that allow users to tailor the information for their needs. SGPs can be viewed at the individual, group, classroom, school and district level. This data can help educators and district leaders identify areas of strength, as well as focus on the skills that need improvement. It also provides a more comprehensive picture of student performance than a single assessment or one year’s performance.

Individual SGPs are useful for parents as well, and can help them understand their child’s progression in learning. They can also be shared with teachers and administrators in their schools, to enrich their understanding of the student’s progress and performance. SGPs can be used as a tool for differentiation in the classroom, to inform instructional strategies and differentiated assignments that meet the needs of all students. SGPs can also be used in educators’ SLOs process, and as part of district-wide continuous improvement efforts.

The SGP data set is available to all Wisconsin schools and districts through a dashboard in the Educator Portal. The SGP data set is updated regularly with the most recent test results. It currently includes data for the Badger Exam from 2008-09 through 2015-16. However, a 2014-15 SGP is not available because this was the only year in which the Badger Exam was administered and it had different performance characteristics than either the WKCE that preceded it or the Forward Exam that followed it.

Providing a consistent data set that allows for meaningful comparisons of student progress across schools, districts and states is the goal of data sgp. This will enable the development of state-based measures to evaluate teacher, school and district effectiveness, as well as support state policies related to accountability. SGPs are one piece of this puzzle, and will be used in the future as an additional measure to compare student performance across schools and districts.

Using SGP data is a simple process. The sgpData vignette contains detailed instructions on how to use the sgpData class and its higher level wrapper functions for SGP analyses. It is recommended that you read the vignette before using the SGP data for your analyses. There are two common data formats for longitudinal (time dependent) student assessment data: WIDE and LONG format. The lower level functions studentGrowthPercentiles and studentGrowthProjections utilize the WIDE format; however, it is generally more efficient to use the LONG format for a wider range of analyses if you plan on running them operationally year after year. This is due to preparation and storage benefits of the LONG format.