SGP Observatory sits on 160 acres of cattle pasture and wheat fields southeast of Lamont and houses approximately 30 scientists and technicians who monitor data from Central Facility instruments as well as several unmanned stations throughout its site. Scientists also utilize guest instruments during field research campaigns or when maintenance/upgrade work occurs on site – and all this data is transmitted back to ARM Data Center via Data Discovery for public consumption.
SGPs can give educators insight into how students have progressed over time in specific subjects, but they cannot account for every student experience. That is why educators should use multiple measures when reporting on student achievement – these resources will assist educators with exploring additional student growth indicators.
The Component Catalog allows you to easily install additional models, datasets and knowledge bases for use with SGP. Once installed, they become accessible to users with appropriate permissions; you can view a list of knowledge bases in your account along with data that has been uploaded into each. Furthermore, you can dynamically upload data using this catalog.
Student Growth Percentiles Created specifically for the MCAS test, SGP serves as an indicator of a student’s proficiency relative to that of other students statewide. Utilized across grades and schools alike, this indicator of academic skill demonstrates by students can help compare academic levels demonstrated across grades, identify any areas needing extra support, as well as determine which grades require additional help with academic skills development.
SGPs are calculated from up to two years of historical MCAS data. The information is then analyzed with quantile regression to place each student’s current performance onto a normative scale; that is, against other students tested at their same grade and school with similar characteristics (gender, race and educational program).
As well as reporting individual student SGPs, the state also releases average SGPs for schools, districts and subgroups within schools or districts based on trends in statewide performance each year; as such, average SGPs for each can vary year to year depending on trends in overall statewide performance trends.
Students A and B might both achieve identical scale scores on this year’s MCAS test in one subject area but may receive differing SGPs due to being divided among academic peer groups by the SGP model. Furthermore, in certain instances group SGPs might change due to factors like slight misfit or being assigned their highest scale score possible.
Understanding SGPs as they relate to student achievement can be daunting, since their calculations rely on test scores that don’t capture every aspect of student learning. Speak to educators in your locality about what type of things SGP can measure and where its limitations lie – they will help shed some light.