Students can’t be expected to master grade-level standards in one year – it takes time to learn. However, we do need to provide some measurement of how much students have grown in their knowledge and skills from one year to the next. That’s why the MCAS tests include a growth measure – student growth percentile (SGP). A SGP measures how much a student has learned compared to other students with similar prior test scores (their academic peers) and provides a more complete picture of a student’s learning than a score alone.
A SGP is calculated by dividing the student’s performance level on an MCAS test by the number of students who scored at that same level on the previous MCAS exam. The resulting percentage tells us the student’s rank among their academic peers. A SGP can help us understand the extent to which a student has grown and can be used as a tool to improve instruction.
SGPs are useful because they allow us to compare the performance of different schools, districts, and subgroups within a school or district. Average SGPs provide a more holistic overview of a school or district’s performance and allow us to identify trends over time. Moreover, they can be compared across states to see which schools and districts are performing more successfully than others.
Using SGPs to understand school and district performance can help ensure that all students are getting the best possible education. The more a school and district understands their performance, the better they can plan and implement initiatives to increase achievement. By analyzing SGPs, we can see whether we are achieving our goals and make necessary adjustments.
When interpreting a student’s SGP, it is important to remember that percentile rankings are recalculated each year. As a result, only changes in SGPs from year to year should be considered significant. Differences of less than 10 points should not be viewed as meaningful.
The data in the SGP reports can be difficult to interpret for educators and parents. To ease the interpretation process, the MCAS Division has created three guides for administrators, teachers, and parents that outline how to read and interpret the information. These guides also give examples of how to use SGPs in classrooms and schools, and offer prompts for incorporating the information into teacher evaluation processes.
The SGP report includes growth data for each student in a school and, for some schools, the district as well. The individual student report also includes a breakdown of growth by subject. This breakdown allows for the comparison of growth in different subjects and can be helpful to teachers. The report is available online through the MCAS website. It is free to access. The report will be updated each spring and fall. A sample report is shown below. The report can be accessed by clicking on the “MCAS Assessment Data” tab, then selecting the SGP Report under the Result Summary section. The report can be printed, saved to a spreadsheet, or exported for use in other software.