The Georgia Student Growth Model for English Language Proficiency (GSGM for ELP) is an exciting initiative designed to provide students, parents, and educators with important information about English learner (EL) students' development of academic English language proficiency (ELP). Knowing a student's level of ELP tells only part of the story. Knowing the student's language growth trajectory to reach that level of ELP tells a more complete story.
What is the GSGM for ELP?
Georgia is implementing the student growth percentile (SGP) methodology to describe the language proficiency growth an EL student has demonstrated relative to language-level-similar EL students from across the state. Growth percentiles range from 1 to 99, with lower percentiles indicating lower language growth and higher percentiles indicating higher language growth. With SGPs, all EL students, regardless of their level of ELP, can exhibit all levels of language growth.
How is the GSGM for ELP used?
The core purpose of the GSGM for ELP is to provide students, parents, and educators with valuable, actionable information on EL students' development of academic English in school. Students, parents, and educators receive student growth reports from last year's WIDA ACCESS for ELLs assessment that provide information on the individual student's language development trajectory from one year to the next, with a one-year projection. Students and parents can work with their teachers to better understand the student's ACCESS for ELLs growth percentile and the additional language support or language enrichment opportunities that could contribute to their development of academic English – key to meeting or exceeding academic expectations in both the WIDA English Language Development Standards and the Georgia Standards of Excellence.
Where can we find GSGM for ELP data information?
Educators have access to detailed ACCESS SGP data for their students through the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS). They can utilize ACCESS SGP information in conjunction with multiple student data information to inform student learning, instruction, and language programs.
ACCESS SGPs do not contribute to teacher, school, or district accountability.
