Data SGP
Data sgp is the term used to refer to any dataset that is used for Student Growth Percentile (SGP) analyses. This includes the sgpData data set and the sgptData, sgptData_LONG, and sgpData_INSTRUCTOR_NUMBER data sets that are included with the SGP package. The SGP package has lower level functions, such as studentGrowthPercentiles and studentGrowthProjections, that allow users to analyze WIDE data sets and LONG formatted data sets respectively.
The sgpData data set provides teachers and administrators with the ability to generate percentile rank tables that outline student performance relative to their academic peers. It also provides a range of projections based on current and past performances in a variety of time frames. These data sets provide an overview of students’ trajectories in terms of how much students should grow to reach proficiency. This information can be useful for identifying students who may need more support or intervention as well as in planning for future academic success.
Student Growth Percentiles (SGP) describe a student’s progress on a specific course or subject as compared to others with similar prior test scores (their academic peers). SGP calculations are complex, but the results are presented in percentageile terms familiar to most teachers and parents. This information is helpful for identifying students who may need more or less intervention and for evaluating the effectiveness of various interventions.
SGPs are calculated using historical growth trajectories of Star examinees. sgpData provides five years of data for each individual student in the sample by storing each test result in its own column in the data table. The first column, ID, provides the unique student identifier. The following columns, GRADE_2013 – GRADE_2017, provide the grade level assessment scores for each year, while the last five columns, SS_2013 – SS_2017, display the scale score associated with the test result. If a student does not have 5 years of data the data shows the missing value (NA).
sgptData consists of long-formatted data sets that are useful for conducting SGP analyses for fixed or time-dependent analysis scenarios. These files include the sgpData_INSTRUCTOR_NUMBER lookup table, which provides instructors with student level summary reports. These files are automatically installed as a part of the SGP package and are utilized as the exemplar for the lower level SGP functions.
While the data sgp is certainly larger than what is typically considered to be ‘big data’, it still remains relatively small in comparison to the amount of data that might be used for an operational analysis of Facebook interactions or other large data sets. Nonetheless, the data is of sufficient size and complexity that it requires specialized analysis tools to handle appropriately. As a result, it is important to understand the details of data sgp so that users are aware of when and how to use this data set. The SGP vignette contains more comprehensive documentation on the usage of the sgpData data sets.