Concepts and best practices
      Back to home
      1. Help Centre
      2. Analytics
      3. Concepts and best practices

      Cohort relative growth

      Interpreting the calculations and understanding the insights

      Cohort relative growth had a significant overhaul towards the end of 2024 and now has a range of new features to help schools assess performance and growth in the many types of assessments they use.

      Calculation method

      There are three methods you can use to plot your assessment data.

      Expected level

      This calculation type works exclusively with assessment types that inherently assess students against an age-related expectation. NAPLAN, DIBELS, the Victorian Curriculum, Acadience, and Fountas & Pinnell are examples of assessments that define an age-related expectation.

      • x-axis: performance is plotted in relation to the expected level, i.e. if a student's age-expected score is 7.5 and they score 8.5, they would be "1" to the right of the vertical axis.
      • y-axis: growth is plotted according to the rate of growth or regression between the two selected time periods, and is reported in the various scales of the assessments selected, i.e. for the Victorian Curriculum, it will be curriculum level.

      Percentile rank

      This is a comparative rank that uses a student's score, often a scale score and compares it to a norm-referenced group. Expressed as percentile (rather than percentage), it describes the proportion of students in the reference group that the individual has performed as well as, or better than. Assessment types like ACER, NAPLAN, DIBELS and Allwell provide percentile ranks. If a school has classes/cohorts of 30+ students, we'll also rank subject results.

      • x-axis: the average norm-referenced percentile rank for all assessment types selected. For example, if NAPLAN and ACER are selected, we'll average percentile ranks for NAPLAN Reading, Writing, Numeracy, etc. AND PAT-R, PAT-M, etc. Clicking on each will show you the actual results for each domain or test type.
        • Note. Norm-referenced tests compare the tester's performance to the performance of peers in a norming group, usually of similar age or other demographic.
      • y-axis: growth is plotted according to change in the underlying scale score, meaning any improvement from the last period selected will plot a student above the horizontal line.

      Performance

      Any assessment that can be converted to a percentage can be used here. Subject end-of-semester results, whether they are letter grades or percentages can be used (we will still present the grade in the form you've nominated, i.e. "5" or "B+"). Progressive or curriculum-based assessments cannot be used in the performance calculation.

      • x-axis: performance is a reflection of the student's actual assessment results in each class. If they were awarded 92% overall for English in Semester 2, 2024, that's what will be presented if that semester is selected. We average results for all domains unless if a sub-selection is made.
      • y-axis: growth is calculated on change in the performance scores described above and any improvement from the last period selected will plot a student above the horizontal line.

      Quick insights

      The Quick insights panel on the left of this dashboard is intended to find trends, concerns and useful correlations across data sets. Insights presented are sensitive to your filter selections and will change based on which calculation method you're using and whether you're looking at one student, or many.

      Multiple students

      Percentile rank

      "[n]% of students are performing as well as or better than 75% of students in the benchmark groups."

      • This insight considers the data sources and domains selected and counts # of students in the selected cohort operating, on average, at or above the 75th percentile and calculates that count as a proportion of the total cohort selected.

      "[%] of students in this cohort are performing, on average in the 90th percentile for the tests selected, which is [higher/lower] than the last selected period."

      • Count students in the selected cohort operating in the top band for each of the data types selected and calculate the count as a proportion of the total in the selected cohort. Compare this to this cohort's previous results.

      "Top 5 students by rank improvement and the degree of that improvement. "Improvement by rank 1. {firstname lastname} current rank, previous rank, etc."

      • Average percentile rank across data sources/domains compared to the next most recent test of the same data sources/domains, expressed as a relative %. The insight ranks students from the greatest increase, showing the top five.

      Expected level

      % of students operating 'below', 'at' and 'above' the expected level and the same for the previous reporting period.

      • Dependent on the curriculum areas and test types selected.
      • Simplifies band-based test types to simply calculate % at, below and above.

      "Intervention list"

      • Students who, across all data sources selected, are shown to be operating on average, more than two levels behind age-expectation.

      "Discordance list"

      • Students who are reported at being 'at' or 'below' age expectation for Maths or English but are operating in the top band for NAPLAN (Numeracy for Maths and Reading or Writing for Literacy) OR the top band for PAT-M (Maths) and PAT-R (English) (whichever test is more recent).

      Performance

      Honours list

      • Top 5 students based on 1. highest Ave. growth AND 2. highest Ave. performance (sorting on growth first)

      Watch list

      • Top 5 students with greatest degree of Ave. regression (based on growth scores below 0).

      An individual student

      Percentile rank

      "On average, {student name} is performing as well or better than n% of students in the benchmark groups."

      • An average of percentile rank scores across the data sources/domains selected.
      • "Benchmark groups" refers to norm-reference groups of like-age students against which the student's score is compared.

      Expected level

      "Intervention list"

      • Curriculum: any Strand showing the student operating at 1 point below the expected for their cohort age.

      • ACER: any assessment type where the student is operating 1 band or greater than the user-defined expected level (band) for their year level.

      • NAPLAN: any domain in which they are operating at 'Developing' or 'Needs Additional Support'

      • MAP: any domain in which they are operating below the expected level

      • DRA: below the expected level for Independent Reading level

      • DIBELS: any test type with a result of 'Some risk' or 'At risk'

      "Discordance list"

      • Find any domain result for standardised testing where the student is operating in the top band for NAPLAN, top band for Allwell, and top two bands for any other assessment type. If that student has been assessed in internal judgments as being 'at' cohort age in a corresponding Learning Area, i.e. NAPLAN Numeracy, Maths... PAT-R, English Literacy, lists these as discordances.

      Performance

      "Best performance"

      • Lists top three subjects for growth since the last selected period, i.e. Sem 2, 2023 and Sem 2, 2024. IF this student reports no growth across the subjects and timeframe, the ist shows the three subjects with the best results.

      "Watch list"

      • Two categories that would cause a subject to be listed:
        • Comparatively low performance: the student's most recent assessment result is lower than the average of previous assessments in the same subject in the previous semester.
        • Low attendance: Any subjects with lower than 70% attendance for the semester