What is a Student Growth Percentile?
A Student Growth Percentile (SGP) compares a student's growth to that of his or her academic peers
nationwide. Academic peers are students in the same grade with a similar scaled score on a STAR
assessment at the beginning of the time period you are examining. SGP is reported on a scale of 1–99. For
example, if a student has an SGP of 90, it means his growth from one test to another was better than 90
percent of students at a similar achievement level in the same grade. (SGP does not take into account
characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, or English language proficiency.) Student Growth Percentiles are
intended to promote productive, data-driven conversations that create educational environments in which all
students thrive and grow. SGPs are available in STAR Reading and STAR Math for grades 1–12 and in STAR
Early Literacy for grades K-3.
Why I would use Student Growth Percentiles
Student Growth Percentiles help answer the question: "Are my students meeting growth expectations?" A
student's growth percentile is most informative when considered in relation to progress toward meeting a
benchmark.
For example, a student may be performing at a low level but still be growing at a significant rate.
Conversely, a high-performing student could be stagnating. SGPs tell you whether a student's growth is
more or less than what can be expected.
Without an SGP, a teacher would not know if a scaled score increase of 100 represented average, aboveaverage, or below-average growth. This is because students of differing achievement levels in different
grades grow at different rates. The average SGP for a student ranges from 35-65 and the average SGP for a
class is 50.
Because STAR assessments are given to so many students, Renaissance Learning has data for millions of
testing events. Using a dataset of about 9 million students for STAR Reading and 2 million students for STAR
Math, we are able to calculate growth norms. In other words, we can approximate how much growth is
typical for students of different abilities in different grades from one time period to another. Furthermore,
because all SGP scores are reported on the same scale (1–99), we can calculate a median, or middle score,
that represents the SGP for a group, such as a class, grade, or school as a whole. Median growth percentiles
can be used for comparison purposes.
Where I would find the STAR Growth Proficiency Chart Report (Enterprise Only)
1.
2.
On the Home page, under STAR Reading, STAR Math, or STAR Early Literacy, click Reports.
Under Additional Reports, click Growth Proficiency Chart.
Where I would find the STAR Growth Report
1.
2.
On the Home page, under STAR Reading, STAR Math, or STAR Early Literacy, click Reports.
Under Frequently Used Reports, click Growth.