Bethany Elementary School Teacher Sees Math Proficiency Improve Over 260%
Success Stories
Bethany Elementary School
Beaverton School District, Oregon
John Plunkett, 5th grade teacher at Bethany Elementary School in Beaverton, OR, breathed a sigh of relief when COVID released its grip on the nation. As students happily reentered the classroom, Plunkett’s goal was, “to develop a safe and supportive learning environment as the students transitioned back from remote to in-person learning and to use a range of technology to help develop a foundation for academic success in middle school.”
The result of the many hours he spent on creating engaging curriculum? “Math class has over 260% growth in DreamBox Math,” he says.
DreamBox Math's Impact
Plunkett’s ambitious plan to reach his goal included new units, websites, Seesaw tasks, and other activities to generate high interest for the lessons. Plunkett also understood the need to go beyond the classroom and offer varying degrees of home support. So, he developed guided video lessons to help support students and families who use DreamBox Math at home.
“I have blocked out a set time during the day where [students] can access Dreambox Math and have consistently assigned lessons to match our current units of study,” he says. “This [approach] has created a more equal opportunity for each student to have success and be able to have support with difficult concepts, if needed.”
Because Plunkett’s class has a mixture of proficiency levels, all students use DreamBox Math. For the students with stronger math proficiency, DreamBox Math’s adaptive technology recognizes their abilities, so they encounter more difficult and new concepts. In turn, those students support their peers and collaborate on math problems. As a result, everyone wins. Plus, assigning DreamBox Math units that mirror classroom lessons reinforces students’ grasp of the concepts by doing the lessons twice in one day.
DreamBox Math automatically adapts lessons to meet each student’s capabilities and builds from there. Students are empowered to learn, which helps teachers differentiate lessons based on individual student needs, strengths and challenges. Reports offer teachers continuous insights into student learning — without losing any time testing.
Before adding DreamBox Math to the equation, the school primarily used Khan Academy as its main digital math support. “Now, we use a combination of the two, and this is important because each student is different,” Plunkett says. “The ability to match the concepts, approaches, and needs of the students is crucial to keeping everyone moving forward.” Plunkett’s plan using DreamBox Math is the cohesive teaching approach that has helped knock 5th grade student learning out of the park.
Before adding DreamBox Math to the equation, the school primarily used Khan Academy as its main digital math support. Plunkett’s plan using DreamBox Math is the cohesive teaching approach that has helped knock 5th grade student learning out of the park.