What Is SGP and How Can You Use It in Your Classroom?

The SGP observatory is an extensive site of more than 160 acres southeast of Lamont and is home to numerous continuous instruments that gather data in real-time. The data gathered by these instruments range from detailed measurement of the physical properties of the atmosphere to assimilation into earth system models.

While the term “big data” has gained traction in the scientific community, the data that SGP analyzes is still relatively small by comparison. The data that SGP processes are on the order of millions of individual test scores, whereas an analysis of Facebook interactions would involve billions of records.

Although a complex process, the information that SGP provides can be conveyed in terms of percentiles that are familiar to teachers and parents. This allows educators to make informed decisions about student growth in their classrooms. For example, educators may use individual students’ SGPs to determine the best way to support and challenge them in a given content area. Educators can also use SGP to evaluate the effectiveness of their instructional practices and curriculum planning processes.

The SGP package contains functions that allow you to easily run operational SGP analyses. However, before running these functions you should familiarize yourself with the underlying source code. This can be done by reading the SGP Data Analysis Vignette. You can also contact the author of the vignette with questions or feedback by sending an email to SGP-data@lists.berkeley.edu.

There are two common formats for longitudinal (time dependent) student assessment data – WIDE and LONG format. In WIDE format each case/row represents a unique student and columns represent variables associated with the student at different times. The SGPdata package, installed when you install the SGP package, includes exemplar WIDE and LONG data sets (sgpData and sgpData_LONG) to assist in setting up your data.

Both the WIDE and LONG data sets contain information about a student’s performance on the test. In addition, the LONG data set has an anonymized student-instructor lookup table (sgpData_INSTRUCTOR_NUMBER) that associates teachers with a student’s test record.

You can use these tables to calculate your student growth percentiles and compare them to the statewide averages. In addition, you can use these tables to calculate the mean and standard deviation for each student and group of students. Finally, you can use these tables to identify any groups of students that are performing below the statewide averages and determine the appropriate interventions to help them improve their performance. This is an important step in ensuring that all students have the opportunity to succeed in school.