DreamBox Learning® published The EdTech Efficacy Handbook today to arm education decision makers with resources to guide the critical evaluation of learning technologies in the classroom. This handbook offers examples of the kinds of independent efficacy studies and district use cases educators and district leaders should seek out and validate before investing in education technology, and shares best practices for evaluating those studies.
Independent third-party research into the efficacy of education technology tools provides the most impartial and unbiased assessment, and therefore offers the most valid insights into how technology may impact student outcomes. Yet a recent survey found that only 20 percent of education technology developers said they used third-party evaluators.
“Our district needed a solution to help implement small group math instruction across Fayette County elementary schools, but we wanted to invest with confidence. DreamBox’s efficacy studies gave us the assurance we needed that DreamBox would improve student achievement. We’re seeing a positive impact with DreamBox – validated by our own Renaissance STAR assessments,” said Mark Henderson, instructional coordinator of mathematics at Fayette County Public Schools. “Given the number of learning solutions available for districts to invest in, access to third-party research is critical to determine which are effective and enable districts to make data, research-driven decisions.”
By launching The EdTech Efficacy Handbook, DreamBox aims to inspire and encourage more education technology companies to participate in independent efficacy studies, while at the same time giving educators a rubric by which to analyze existing and new studies.
According to the Center for Digital Education, 90 percent of districts said they were either planning to or had already implemented personalized learning programs using digital content. However, there continues to be a lack of independent research on the efficacy of those tools, and many school districts don’t require third-party validation during the review and adoption process. In fact, according to reports published in 2017 by the EdTech Efficacy Research Academic Symposium, the most common metric used to determine if an education technology product is “working” is simply how often it is used. School leaders assume that teacher usage equates to efficacy and positive impact on student learning.
“The best learning solutions are backed by high-quality studies conducted by independent third-party researchers that reveal significant improvements to student achievement,” said Tim Hudson, Ph.D., Chief Learning Officer at DreamBox Learning. “Education leaders must demand proof that the technologies and programs they adopt have impartial studies showing their positive impact on student achievement, ideally using external pre- and post-test scores. This guide is designed to support teachers and administrators in the efficacy review process.”
DreamBox believes all children can excel at learning, no matter where they start, where they live, or who they are. In partnership with district administrators, teachers, principals, and parents, DreamBox is dedicated to equipping students with the tools they need to realize their potential. By providing students with engaging, age-appropriate visual and interactive representations of math, DreamBox creates an environment that motivates them to persist, progress, and achieve success with just the right amount of support when they need it.
In addition to being the only digital elementary math solution with an Evidence Rating of “Strong” at EvidenceForESSA.org, curated by Johns Hopkins University, independent studies from both the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University and SRI have found that DreamBox Learning K-8 Math improves student achievement. In a recent study funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DreamBox found that when teachers access on-demand support to learn more about math content, their students saw much higher math growth than their peers.
To download The EdTech Efficacy Handbook, click here: http://www.dreambox.com/ed-tech-efficacy-handbook.
About DreamBox Learning
DreamBox Learning, founded in 2006 in Bellevue, Washington, is the only K-8 digital math program powered by students, built by and for educators, and independently proven to positively impact student achievement. DreamBox dynamically adapts and differentiates in real time based not only on students’ answers, but also on how they solve problems. Along with actionable reporting and tools that empower differentiation for all learners, DreamBox gives teachers content-specific professional development and provides administrators with insights about how all students are progressing. The company’s pioneering platform has won more than 40 top education and technology industry awards and is in use in all 50 states and throughout Canada. DreamBox is available for PC and iPad. For more information, visit http://www.dreambox.com/.
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Holly Zuluaga Noland,
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hnoland@rhstrategic.com
