The Student Genome Project (SGP)
The term big data’ has become ubiquitous in the media and is used to describe datasets that are too large for traditional data management applications. While the SGP database aims to assemble unprecedented amounts of geochemical data, it is not ‘big data’ by any stretch of the imagination. In comparison to an analysis of global Facebook interactions, the database that is being assembled for this project is small potatoes.
To understand the scale of the data involved in the SGP, it is useful to consider a typical geological data set that would be included in a geochemical exploration project. This would typically include information on the location of the site, sample level characteristics (such as original sample name, height in section/core, lithology, international chrononstratigraphic time period, interpreted absolute age, and depositional environment) and geological context data (such as the geological unit name, rock type, metamorphic bin, and the stratigraphic position).
Using these data, the SGP team will be able to identify trends and patterns within the data. This will allow researchers to better answer specific questions about Earth history. The final goal of the SGP is to migrate these analyzed datasets to permanent repositories for further research.
The SGP will also be able to provide districts with growth data by high school. This feature was implemented in the fall of 2019 and is now available on the Student Profile/Growth dashboard. This graph compares a student’s performance to the performance of academic peers. Academic peers are students who have the same test score histories as the student being assessed. For example, a sixth grader’s SGP is compared to the SGP of students who have similar MCAS test scores in their fifth and sixth grades. This group does not have to be comprised of the same demographic groups as the student (e.g., race/ethnicity, special education, or sheltered English immersion).
A student’s SGP is determined by the percentage of their academic peers who have scored higher or lower than them. This means that a student with higher achievement is expected to show more growth than students with lower achievement. However, it is important to note that there will be years in which a significant number of students will experience less or more growth than usual due to factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
To help teachers and principals understand what this means for their schools, the SGP team has developed a series of podcasts that explain how to use the new tool. They can be accessed on the BAA Secure Site by downloading the Student Data File under Reports and then copying and pasting it into one of the SGP tools. These podcasts will walk you through the process step-by-step and help you understand how to interpret the results. The first of these podcasts is available below. The remaining podcasts will be posted in the coming weeks.