District School Board of Niagara Impact of Student Learning

District School Board of Niagara DreamBox ? Adaptive Mathematics Technology to Support Student Learning June 15, 2016 Note: Concrete data used in data analysis was determined from DreamBox DashBoard Report (September 1, 2015 ? April 30, 2016)

Impact of Student Learning DSBN Students Gaining Knowledge and Confidence "I learned this on DreamBox!" This quote has been shared countless times throughout the year! This quote clearly shows the impact of DreamBox on student learning and we have seen that this has been part of the experiences that have helped to increase student knowledge and confidence in mathematics. DSBN Students Categorized based on Usage ? by Lesson Completion

This clearly shows that the more lessons students complete, the more they grow in their achievement of the DreamBox Curriculum (K-2 Number Sense and Algebra with connections to measurement and data, Gr. 3-6 Number, Algebra and Geometry with connections to measurement, data and probability).

Six Individual DSBN Students' Data ? 3 Pairs from each Category

This chart shows that students all learn at different levels and need different time and lessons to have the same growth. It also reveals that given the same time on the program, students will improve at different rates and areas of understanding. It is important to follow the trends of the data across the system level and to dive into the data of each individual student in order to maximize the support and impact that this program can have on student achievement. Technology, in this case, allows each student to have the right amount of experiences that they need to move forward in their learning.

Impact of Teacher Learning

DSBN Teachers Gaining Access to Student Data and Next Steps "I know what to do next with individual students!" This quote has been shared countless times throughout the year! This quote demonstrates the impact that student data can have on instruction. As teachers became more comfortable with the DreamBox Dashboard they were better able to use that data to inform their instruction. As students struggled on lessons, the Dashboard would relay that information to the teacher. The teacher could then work with individual students (or small groups or whole class based on the data) and use the lessons from DreamBox to do a `Sample Lesson' with the students. See image below to demonstrate how the data reveals student strengths and possible areas of need based on data.

Sample Story - Grade 6 Student ? Data Overview of a Grade 6 Student progress

This chart shows us that the program moves through in a developmental manner, rather than a linear manner. Students do not complete all lessons for each grade before moving on to the next grade. Instead DreamBox takes students down different paths of learning around various concepts and moves in and out of grade level focusing instead on what math researchers have deemed as an appropriate landscape of learning.

Lessons that student was trying to complete (grey bar means they did not complete the lesson ? DreamBox had to stop the lesson and adjust back)

Two weeks later (same lessons have been adjusted and now the student was able to complete one of those concepts but not the other ? the green border informs us that the lesson was completed)

The teacher is able to click on `Play Demo Lesson' button and work alongside the student to watch, ask questions, give feedback and their work together does not count towards student data or achievement.

Here is the lesson that this student was struggling with. By `playing' the demo lesson with the student we can impact their student experience and achievement. At times, the next step may have been a navigating the program next step but it is more often a conceptual misunderstanding. This data is revealed to the teacher through the conversation that DreamBox helped to generate. This blended learning environment is ideal for teacher and student learning.

This is an example of the student data that is available to teachers through DreamBox and has enabled many teachers to support their students with the appropriate next step based on the evidence from DreamBox. As well, if the teacher also feels that this is a demo lesson that would benefit a small group or even the whole class, they are able to use this lesson in whichever manner they want, without impacting any of the student data that is collected by DreamBox.

Impact of System Scaling and Sustaining

Student Usage Increase We are encouraged by the learning that has been witnessed in students who have committed to using DreamBox. As a system, we are aiming to ensure that all students are accessing DreamBox in order to support their development in certain aspects of their mathematics curriculum and to increase their computational fluency and confidence. We are sharing some visuals to show our increased usage as a system this year. Each week during these time periods (including weeks students are not in school), a student is considered to be active if they complete a lesson or if they spend 15 minutes on DreamBox. We aim for those circles to be mostly blue which shows 100% Active Students. We are very glad the % of Active Students has increased this year. We will share two different time periods to show the increased usage this year and specifically the recent increased usage. Based on September 1, 2015 ? April 30, 2016

Based on September 1, 2014 ? April 30, 2015

Focus on Spatial Reasoning through Models As a system, we are becoming more and more aware of the interconnectedness of spatial reasoning and all mathematics learning. DreamBox directly supports this link by using models (visuals) to help students make sense of number and visualize strategies for operations. In the example below, the visual blocks help students to see that they need double the number of 3s as they needed the number of 6s in order for both to be equal. These lessons are using spatial reasoning to develop computational strategies.

As we understand the benefits and impacts of DreamBox on student learning, their use of models as well as their confidence, we have made it a system goal to ensure that more of our students are using DreamBox to support their journey in math learning. We have worked to better support our teachers and administrators in their understanding of the benefits of the program and that work is having an impact on student and school usage. The visuals from DreamBox also connect directly to the models and strategies that are in the Mathematics Curriculum. The sequence of lessons connects to the developmental landscapes that mathematics researchers have put together. Teachers are gaining further insight into the mathematics

curriculum, mathematics developmental landscapes as well as increasing their mathematics for teaching knowledge (the ability to help students to learn the mathematics we are teaching) through DreamBox.

We continue to be encouraged by our teachers' increased awareness of student strengths and needs through the DreamBox Dashboard. We see DreamBox as a vehicle to increase our educators awareness and understanding of the curriculum and research-based math development. We are excited by our increases in student % usage this year, so that we can ensure that the system is being supported by the learning from this program.

We are looking forward to continuing to use DreamBox as a part of our mathematics programs to support student engagement, learning, achievement and confidence.

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