Data SGP is an R package that facilitates the process of converting student growth percentiles, percentile projections and other statistical aggregates from longitudinal educational assessment data into statistical growth plots. It runs on R, a free open source platform available for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux that requires users to be proficient with its use before proceeding.

The sgpData set contains five years worth of assessments for every grade level student in each classroom. This data can help teachers and parents to analyze student performance relative to academic peers by ranking each child against them on assessments over multiple grade levels. Information presented is easily digestible.

As well as traditional percentile tables, sgpData also offers an easy lookup table that allows the user to associate teachers with individual test records of students – an invaluable way of gauging teacher or school effectiveness. The data for this lookup table is stored in sgpData_INSTRUCTOR_NUMBER; instructors assigned for each test record are identified using this number in an unnamed table containing this data; it allows one instructor responsible for most student learning to be identified more easily than any other method.

When teachers or parents evaluate student results, it’s essential for them to have an accurate picture of how much learning has occurred in relation to academic peers. Percentiles provide this context. One key table in this regard is sgpData_STUDENTS_PERCENTILE_TABLE which lists percentiles across a wide variety of subject areas for easier analysis by teachers as they determine where instruction needs to focus. It can also help in identifying student achievement gaps and making sure all children are making adequate progress.

Percentile growth projections/trajectories for each student are generated using their achievement history, and are displayed in Star Growth Report as Window Specific SGP when selected in Timeframe drop down menu. This process gives teachers/parents an estimate of future performance of their child as well as helping to develop instructional plans to address any problems. This data can also be found under Window Specific SGP tab of Timeframe drop-down menu.

The Southern Great Plains (SGP) atmospheric observatory is one of the world’s premier climate research facilities. At its site in north-central Oklahoma, SGP features 160 acres of cattle pasture and wheat fields where in situ and remote-sensing instrument clusters provide high-quality measurements and simulations that support research into cloud, aerosol and atmospheric processes while assimilation into Earth System models. SGP provides an invaluable training ground for climate scientists from across the world. Each year, an estimated 100 scientists come to observe instrument performance and learn new technologies for measuring and modeling climate. Furthermore, SGP offers data management support for scientific projects from universities and government agencies alike.