Data SGP (Scale Geometry Processing) is a framework for data processing and analysis that makes use of spatial scales (e.g. latitude and longitude) to provide more precise geographic information. Designed as flexible yet extensible solutions that can be tailored specifically to an application, Data SGP’s primary components include its library and associated toolkits.
Data SGP is a scalable, extensible, and customizable software tool for conducting educational research. Designed for users with minimal programming knowledge to quickly develop custom solutions to address their research needs quickly and easily, Data SGP includes a library with several function libraries capable of performing scaling, sorting, grouping and searching operations while its toolkits include its scripting language which makes the creation of custom programs simpler than ever.
Toolkits offer a collection of scripts, models and programs that can help conduct various statistical analyses including student achievement, academic growth, demographic comparisons and trend analyses. In addition, these toolkits include custom widgets for visualizing data in various forms.
Utilizing the Toolkits requires an intermediate understanding of coding languages such as Python. Furthermore, users must have knowledge on how to import and manipulate datasets that will be used in their analyses; all these tools are free on BAA Secure Site.
Preparing data properly is the primary focus of conducting an SGP analysis, as once complete the remaining steps should be fairly intuitive and straightforward. Most of the time required to run an SGP analysis is spent in data preparation rather than calculations themselves.
SGPs are calculated by comparing student performance against that of their academic peers who scored similarly on both assessments within a testing window, using quantile regression; this process places students’ scores onto a normative scale that allows SGPs to be calculated.
An SGP report is graded on a 1-99 scale with lower numbers indicating less relative growth while higher numbers show greater progress. A score of 75 indicates that a student has outshone 75% of their academic peers in terms of growth.
SGP scores may be compared across years, though any significant variations must be treated as significant – generally speaking, differences of 10 points or greater should be interpreted with care.
To view a student’s SGP, navigate to their Star report results page and choose “SGP” from the Reports drop-down menu. A graph will then display, with each bubble representing one student group; hovering over any bubble will reveal details such as its mean SGP score as well as percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced in that group. Authorized users may additionally drill down into additional data regarding individual student groups.