Data SGP is a software application designed to process educational assessment data and produce statistical growth plots (SGPs). This program can be used to examine individual students or groups within a school or district as well as identify trends or patterns within their data which could potentially help enhance teaching and learning experiences.
SGPs are statistical models that utilize longitudinal data to predict student academic performance relative to that of their academic peers. SGPs utilise standardised test scores and covariate information from previous assessments as predictors, providing more accurate interpretation than using just percentile ranks as a measure.
Educators can utilize data gleaned from SGPs to assess students, identify areas for improvement, and devise Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). SGPs also enable educators to monitor progress toward meeting student achievement targets – something districts use SGPs for measuring how well their schools meet state accountability requirements, while administrators use them in making placement decisions for individual students.
SGPs can not only help educators understand their students, but they can also be an invaluable tool for parents. By understanding the results of their child’s SGP, parents can actively take part in improving his or her educational experience and assess if a school they’re considering is a good match for their child.
SGPs not only help analyze data, but can also offer insight into the performance of students’ teachers – helping identify high and low performing instructors that may affect student success. SGPs may also be used to determine the optimal time and place to retest students.
As with any analytical process, it is key that data preparation be carried out correctly prior to conducting SGP analyses. A large portion of the work associated with running SGP calculations occurs here – thankfully the prepareSGP function in the SGP package aims to make this step as straightforward as possible.
This function takes an SGP data file such as sgpData_long and an ID and name lookup file sgpData_INSTRUCTOR_NUMBER as inputs, then creates Demonstration_SGP objects for each student in the lookup files as well as additional variables for use in various SGP analyses such as studentGrowthPercentiles or studentGrowthProjections analyses. It also has wrapper functions abcSGP and updateSGP that combine all steps into one function call calls for operational SGP analyses.
Data SGP makes the visualization of results easy! Your analysis results can be displayed in many different forms, from graphs and tables to the ability to compare SGPs by academic peer group for each student, providing insight into trends and patterns within your data. Graphed SGP displays can especially helpful when trying to detect trends or patterns within it – especially the graphical display option offered by Data SGP! This tool displays SGPs by academic peer group for every student individually which allows you to compare relative progress of different individuals over time.