WISEdash for Districts User Guide: Student Growth Percentile (SGP)

Access the Student Profile: Growth Dashboard

Only some user roles in WISEdash for Districts have access to student-level data.

There are two main ways to access student-level SGP data:

Search for a Student

1. Log in to WISEhome.
2. Open WISEdash for Districts.
3. Click Dashboards from the left-side menu.
4. In the Dashboards menu, click Tools.
5. Click Student Search.
6. Click Filters and select filters to find the student whose data you need.
7. Click the student's name from the list of search results.
8. The Student Profile opens in a new tab.
9. Near the top of the Student Profile, click the Growth tab.
10. Select Growth from the dropdown.

Select a Student in Another Dashboard

1. In any other dashboard, click on the data within the graph.
2. Select a student from the list that opens in a new tab.
3. The Student Profile opens in a new tab.
4. Near the top of the Student Profile, click the Growth tab.
5. Select Growth from the dropdown.

Interpret the Student Profile: Growth Dashboard

The background of individual SGP graphs are the four performance levels on the state assessment (Advanced, Meeting, Approaching, Developing). The color of the arrows between data points (the student's score on each year's standardized assessment) indicates the level of growth (High, Typical, Low). Both are displayed so that growth and achievement can be viewed in tandem, enriching data -based conversations.

This example shows how the student's family might collaborate with the student's elementary school and middle school teachers and administrators to find out what the student and their teachers think helped them grow so much from 4th to 5th grade, so that the middle school can provide similar structures or types of support over the next school year.

If this high growth between 4th and 5th grade proves to be a pattern for students in the same cohort at the same school, this school's teachers and administration might consider whether the structures and supports can be replicated in other grades.

Notice that even a student scoring at the "Advanced" level can experience low growth from one year to the next. This shows how SGP data is informative across the spectrum of performance and should inform students at all levels.

Types of Growth

• High growth (66th -99th percentiles) displays in green.
• Typical growth (35th - 65th percentiles) displays in yellow.
• Low growth (1st - 34th percentiles) displays in red.

Axes

The y-axis displays the normalized scale score from the annual state assessment.

The x-axis displays the grade and year of applicable testing. The additional rows beneath the x-axis display the normalized scale score (data point) and the SGP (colored arrow) that are directly above. This data displays by default because the data points in the Student Profile: Growth Dashboard are not clickable.

Use the Data

Because SGPs are, by definition, based on individual student data, these reports are secure and only provided to educators with authorized access in WISEdash for Districts. While considered confidential data, they should be used and discussed in multiple ways. That is, districts should use growth data – especially subgroup SGPs – to inform their continuous improvement process; schools, in their school improvement plans; educators, in their SLOs; and teachers/principals should discuss individual growth with students’ families, and students themselves.

SGP data can be one way for schools/districts to focus their data conversations and should inform their continuous improvement and strategic planning processes. Discussions about student performance should never rely on a single indicator, and SGPs are no exception. SGPs should always be used in combination with other performance data. Consider professional development to accompany the use of SGPs to ensure data are properly interpreted.

Access the Group-Level SGP Dashboards

The following dashboards have group-level SGP data:

• Student Growth Percentile - All Subgroups
• Student Growth Percentile by School
• SGP Level by Group

Follow the steps below to access these dashboards.

1. Log in to WISEhome.
2. Open WISEdash for Districts.
3. Click Dashboards.
4. Click Topics.
5. Under the Growth header, click one of the growth dashboards.
   • Once you have opened a group-level growth dashboard, notice that it is a simple click to switch between these. The other growth dashboards appear in the toolbar just above the title of the growth dashboard you are currently using.
   • Student Growth Percentile - All Subgroups
   • Student Growth Percentile by School
   • SGP Level by Group

Interpret Bubble Charts in Group-Level SGP Dashboards

Of the group-level SGP dashboards, the following use bubble charts:

• Student Growth Percentile - All Subgroups
• Student Growth Percentile by School

X-Axis and Y-Axis

The y-axis displays the percent Meeting and Advanced on the annual state assessment (e.g., the Forward Exam).

The x-axis displays the average growth percentile.

Both achievement and growth data points are displayed so that growth and achievement can be viewed simultaneously and enrich data-based conversations.

Interpret Bubble Charts

Each bubble represents a different group, color-coded as indicated in the legend. The school district's administrators and teachers might work together to understand what supports and structures help their 9th graders experience so much growth relative to their 5th graders, so that they can implement similar, age-appropriate support and structure in the 5th grade as well.

Small bubbles: Take care when interpreting growth (displayed along the x-axis) especially when analyzing the performance of small groups. Only limited conclusions can be drawn from small groups. Hover over a bubble to read the number of students it represents.

Large bubbles: A school or district can make significant improvements if they find out how to close an achievement gap between two large bubbles, because the changes they implement will help many students.

Interpret the SGP Level by Group Dashboard

This dashboard's bar graphs permit quick comparison between students in a certain group. This dashboard is most informative when you add the "Group by" filter (in addition to any other desired filter, or on its own).

Click the data in any graph to open a new tab displaying a list of students that belong to that group. Then, click a student's row to jump to their Student Profile - Growth dashboard. In the example above, where there is only one student who identifies as blind or visually impaired, teachers and administrators may find it most useful to find out in which years the student experienced high or typical growth so that they can work directly with that student, their family, and the previous teachers to determine what supports and structures were the most helpful.

Note: Only some user roles in WISEdash for Districts provide access to student-level data.

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Filter the data

1. In the dashboard, there may be a message underneath the filters that says "You must select values from the following filters before the dashboard can be displayed."
2. In each dashboard, notice which filters are preselected. Click Filter Data to change the value of each of these filters as needed.

View the data as a table

1. Click on any data point in the graph to see the data in table form.
2. Click the name of a column header in the table to sort by that column.
3. Click the three horizontal lines  next to a column header to filter the data for certain values in that column.
4. Above the table's filters, click Back to [dashboard name] to return to the graph view.

Get more information about the data

1. If there is a Resources and Notes header above the graphs within a dashboard, click it to better understand the data in these dashboards.
2. Next to each graph, click the More info icon to view the graph as a pop-up window. The tabs at the top of the pop-up window display:
   • Content: a graph of the data
   • Data: a table of the data in chronological order
   • Definitions: terms that define aspects of this data
3. Click Close in the lower right or X in the upper right to close this window.
4. Return to top

Resources

• Data Privacy: Home page for DPI training around resources around student privacy.
• WISE homepage: A great place to get started if you are new to WISE applications.
• Consider joining our WISE Community, a Microsoft Teams channel where you can read up on current topics and post questions.
• Would you like to ask questions directly to a Partner Support team member? We also host a recurring WISE User Group Webinar! Join us!

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