A student’s average Student Growth Percentile (SGP) reflects the sum of all the SGP scores a student has received for a particular assessment window. For example, a student with three practice tests has an average SGP of 50. An SGP score above 50 indicates that the student has exceeded the expected average growth rate for the current time period.

For a more detailed explanation of how SGPs are calculated, please see the SGP Calculation Guide.

Student growth percentiles are determined by comparing a student’s assessment results to those of academic peers. These “academic peers” are all students in a student’s grade and assessment subject who have followed similar assessments score paths over the course of the school year. Unlike other measures, SGPs do not take into account the influence of demographic factors or program participation on a student’s assessment results.

SGP scores are calculated based on the average of a student’s growth percentiles from the past five years, or five assessment windows. Each of these five assessment windows is a different length, which is why students’ SGPs will differ from one window to another. During the Star report customization process, you can select any previous or current window for your district screening SGPs. The selected window will be used to calculate a student’s projected SGP for the upcoming period.

A student’s SGP score can be influenced by many factors, including the student’s overall performance in school and on previous practice exams, his/her level of mastery for the subject content in the assessment, as well as the timing of the exam and whether or not it was taken on-demand or timed. The SGP score may also be impacted by the number of questions a student answers correctly, his/her total answer time, or the time required to complete the exam.

SGP is an important part of the Star assessment system, and can be a great tool to help teachers and students understand their progress. However, some of the information displayed on SGP reports can be overwhelming for teachers and parents to digest. In order to make the most of SGP reports, it’s important for educators and parents to understand the terminology, methodology and data that go into calculating a student’s SGP. By understanding these aspects of the SGP report, educators and parents can use it to best support students on their learning journey.