Napa Valley Unified School District Students Using DreamBox Math Demonstrate Significant Gains on End-of-Year Math Assessments

New study shows elementary and middle school students using DreamBox Math scored over nine percentile points higher than students who did not use DreamBox

BELLEVUE, Wash. — October 10, 2023 — Today, DreamBox Learning, Inc.® (“DreamBox”), the pioneer of intelligent adaptive learning and the only provider of digital solutions rated “Strong” by Johns Hopkins’ EvidenceforESSA.org in both mathematics and reading, announced the results of a new study with Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD) in California. The analysis shows NVUSD elementary and middle school students who used DreamBox Math for at least one hour per week (completing at least five lessons per week) achieved higher end-of-year math test scores, regardless of students’ grade level, prior academic achievement, or status as an English Language Learner (ELL).

In the study, researchers compared more than 6,000 students’ scores from the fall 2021 STAR math test to the spring 2022 STAR math test. The analysis found during the 2021-22 school year, the students who completed five or more DreamBox Math lessons (approximately an hour) per week scored 9.5 percentile points higher on the year-end assessment than students who did not complete any DreamBox lessons.

“Through the pandemic and beyond, DreamBox has proven to be an essential tool in our educators' math teaching tool belt to help address unfinished learning and close the math opportunity gap,” said Sarah Knox, Director of Interventions at Napa Valley Unified School District. “Students receive the individualized learning they need, either at, above, or below their own grade level standards, while teachers can monitor both usage and standard mastery and assign students focus work based on their progress. This highly personalized learning, when implemented as designed, has ultimately led to marked student improvement on STAR Math.”

The National Education Association estimates that by 2025, one in every four students in classrooms across the United States will be an ELL. Digital solutions must account for specific strategies that help make lessons culturally appropriate for these students. The NVUSD study, which included over 27% ELLs, found that ELLs who completed at least five DreamBox Math lessons per week scored eight percentile points higher than ELLs who did not use DreamBox. Researchers credit this achievement growth to DreamBox Math’s personalized and efficacious curriculum, which provides culturally responsive text and audio content in Spanish and English.

“Students and educators deserve learning solutions that are proven to work,” said Dr. Tim Hudson, Chief Learning Officer of DreamBox Learning. “As a testament to our commitment to improving student understanding and confidence, we continually invite districts to partner with us to research and confirm the efficacy of DreamBox’s math and reading programs. In just the past two years, we’ve seen confirmation of improved math achievement in multiple studies involving over 125,000 students from across the country, including this new study with NVUSD. The evidence is clear – regardless of students’ prior achievement, grade level, or demographic background, DreamBox works.”

This NVUSD study marks the latest in an ongoing series of research demonstrating DreamBox’s impact. Most recently, a LearnPlatform study with William Penn School District (PA) found the use of DreamBox Math increased students’ end-of-year test scores when used for an average of just 55 minutes a week. An analysis of Pinellas County Schools (FL) also found students who completed an average of five or more DreamBox Math lessons per week (one hour a week) in just eight weeks increased more than five national achievement percentile points compared to students with lower DreamBox usage. Similarly, Catoosa County School District (GA) students in grades 3-8 using DreamBox Reading Plus averaged 2.2 reading level gains.

View the Napa Valley Unified School District study for more information on how best to support students across a wide range of achievement and grade levels. To learn more about DreamBox’s efficacy and recent school district success stories, visit DreamBox’s resources.

About DreamBox Learning
DreamBox Learning, the leading pre-K through 12 education technology provider, is radically transforming the way the world learns. As the only dual-discipline digital solution rated “Strong” by Johns Hopkins’ EvidenceforESSA.org in both mathematics and reading, DreamBox uniquely provides schools high-quality adaptive learning solutions independently proven to accelerate student growth. Built by teachers and for teachers, DreamBox empowers educators with robust data analytics and content-specific professional development solutions to complement instruction. DreamBox supports 400,000 educators and approximately 6 million students in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. For more information, visit https://www.dreambox.com/.

###

For information about partnering with DreamBox, contact: info@dreambox.com.

DreamBox Learning Media Contact:
RH Strategic for DreamBox Learning
DreamBoxPR@rhstrategic.com