In a data-driven world, having access to quality information is essential. It enables organizations to better anticipate challenges, optimize resources, and implement innovative solutions. This is particularly true for cities, where data is shaping their urban landscapes, making them more sustainable, efficient, and livable.
Urban planners use data from various sources to design eco-friendly infrastructure, such as public transportation routes, green spaces, and energy efficient buildings. They also incorporate data on residents’ lifestyles to ensure that the city is able to sustain its population. For example, in Singapore, the Housing Development Board uses data on demographics and housing demand to identify areas where new homes should be built. The agency also considers environmental factors, such as air quality and rainfall patterns, when planning the layout of new developments.
MCAS growth reports are designed to be used by a variety of stakeholders, including administrators, educators, and families. Each of these stakeholder groups has its own needs for understanding and interpreting the reports. To help with the interpretation of these reports, DESE has created a series of growth report guides for each group. These guides include sample questions that can be asked to guide conversations about the reports and prompts for incorporating the reports into continuous improvement cycles.
A key element of the MCAS growth reports is that they are based on trends in statewide performance data each year. As a result, the average growth percentiles will shift from year to year, and may be higher or lower than in previous years. These fluctuations are due to a variety of factors, including changes in student demographics and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The data set sgptData_LONG is an anonymized panel data set that contains assessment results in LONG format for 8 windows (3 windows annually) across 3 content areas. It includes state specific metadata in the embedded SGPstateData meta-data and is recommended for use with operational analyses, as most of the higher level wrapper functions (such as studentGrowthPercentiles and studentGrowthProjections) are designed to work with long data sets.
The sgptData_LONG data set can be downloaded from the MCAS Data Download page. To access the data, you must have a valid MCAS account and a password. After logging in, select “SGPtData_LONG” from the Data Type drop-down list. Then, enter your password and click “Go.” To download this data set, you must agree to the Terms of Use. Once you have downloaded the data, please follow the instructions for using it. If you have any questions, please contact us. We would be happy to assist you.