Data SGP Limitations
Access to data SGP is an integral component of transparency, empowering the public to make more informed decisions. Furthermore, data SGP enables educators and the community to evaluate state education reform initiatives.
SGPs are calculated by comparing student performance against that of academic peers at each grade level and school, drawn from all demographic groups who took the MCAS test that year; including special education programs like sheltered English immersion or accelerated learning. Quantile regression places their scores onto a normative scale while students’ own scores are placed on a percentile rank that indicates where their place lies within this group.
Teachers use a spreadsheet provided by their state to calculate Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs). Teachers then compare student growth between classmate’s students. Teachers may then utilize this same spreadsheet to identify a range of SGPs within each grade level and report these results back to parents. SGPs provide educators with valuable professional learning support by helping to determine how much improvement is necessary and plan future instruction; additionally they can be used as support mechanisms for school-wide goals and initiatives.
Though SGPs provide valuable information, it is important to recognize their current implementation has limitations. For instance, due to differences between Badger Exam performance and WKCE and Forward exams prior, which made calculating SGPs difficult and made comparing student growth over time difficult.
SGPs are currently only available for 5th, 7th, and 11th grades – an improvement over previous reporting systems which only provided 4th and 8th grade reports – yet these reports still only contain limited amounts of student information.
One key limitation of Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) is that they do not always follow a bell-shaped curve. Sometimes more students than anticipated (from left to right on a sloped upward line) fall within higher percentiles than expected for any given grade level, especially at low-achieving schools with more students in lower percentiles than anticipated (particularly lower percentiles for low achieving schools).
Unfortunately, these limitations are being addressed. A new dashboard will enable users to filter by school or grade level and will display SGPs for all students within that grouping, along with tables showing which percentile bands students belong to as well as graphs depicting distribution by percentile band. Furthermore, SGPs will be released for use during 2014-15 school year as the state continues to enhance functionality and usability while working to reduce data processing times so educators receive them faster each year.