Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) measure how much your child has increased in a subject relative to other students in his or her grade. An SGP can be used to identify areas in which your child requires extra assistance and compare performance over time; but be wary when comparing SGPs from different years – differences of 10 points should be taken as significant changes.
How is Student Growth Percentage Calculated? To calculate Student Growth Percentages (SGP), MCAS assessment results for each subject area are compared with a sample of academic peers in that grade and subject area who share similar MCAS score trends over two years of testing, regardless of demographics, participation in special education or sheltered English immersion programs, etc. To generate your child’s SGP. The percentage represents how much your performance has improved or declined since beginning testing again two years prior.
Typically, the higher your child’s Student Growth Profile (SGP), the more they grew in an academic area. A high SGP indicates that your child outpaced most of his or her academic peers; conversely, low scores suggest their performance fell below most academic peers.
SGPs should be understood within the overall state performance trend each year. While certain subjects’ SGPs may appear higher or lower than in prior years, it’s essential to remember that any variations are due to changes in statewide trends rather than any singular event like pandemics.
How Can I Understand the SGP? The Student Growth Pace, or SGP, measures your child’s progress relative to his or her academic peers in any subject area. It shows what percent of MCAS scores were above or below this benchmark – an SGP score of 90 indicates your child scored equally or better than 90% of his or her academic peers whereas one below 60 signifies they didn’t grow as quickly.
To gain a thorough understanding of SGPs, it’s useful to know how percentile ranks are calculated. To do so, MCAS tests are compared with national normative samples for students of similar grade and subject. Quantile regression is a statistical technique that uses standard normed scales to compare academic peers on an even playing field and to identify their percentile ranks, then converts those scores to letter grades using MCAS score scale. This letter grade is reported to both parents and school districts for use in determining your child’s strengths and weaknesses during his/her performance, which in turn can help identify areas for instructional intervention plans for your child. While analyzing and interpreting data may seem complex, it can be an invaluable way to increase student achievement.