Science and modern life often refer to large volumes of information as “big data,” while in education there exists another category of data which needs analyzing: student growth percentiles. This aggregated information allows educators to view how students are progressing over time and allows teachers to identify areas for improvement as well as make decisions regarding instruction and assessment; additionally it is often used for evaluation of schools/districts/support for research initiatives.

DESE provides growth percentiles to educators in order to better assess student progress across topics and skills assessments, making it easy to compare progress between individuals. Growth percentiles allow educators to track a student’s progression over time by comparing current test score with prior test score. Zero is considered zero percentile while 100 would represent 100. A student who scored 75 on their most recent assessment would have an approximate growth percentile score of 50 based on this formula.

Students with low growth percentiles may require additional support or interventions in order to enhance their performance. One effective way of determining this need is through a student-level growth report; such reports provide information regarding current proficiency levels for ELA and math tests as well as projected scores on subsequent grade-level exams, student background information and type of instruction received by each pupil.

An SGP analysis can be invaluable in identifying students in need of extra support, informing classroom practices, evaluating schools and districts, as well as supporting wider research initiatives. But for this type of information to be truly effective, it must be readily accessible and actionable; hence improving its state is necessary so as to be usable by all educators.

Sgp analysis can be difficult for those unfamiliar with its data set, but there are tools available that make the task simpler – these include data visualizations, automated reports and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s SGP Data Explorer tool.

Users of this free tool can utilize SGP data to create and download tailored reports to identify issues in a student’s learning process, patterns or trends requiring further investigation, and interventions designed to increase their chances of school success. It’s key that information be timely, accurate and usable if all stakeholders want informed decisions supporting student success.