DreamBox Learning lifts early math scores in a San Jose trial

The What Works Clearinghouse rated DreamBox Learning as having potentially positive effects on math, an improvement index of +4, in a trial with 557 kindergarten and first-grade students.

  • 2 a person

    The WWC found a statistically significant gain of 0.11 standard deviations on a standardized math test, an improvement index of +4 percentile points.

Depth runs from 1, a convenience or time saved, to 5, a life or a livelihood preserved.

Status
Reported benefit.
Evidence

foundstudiedreportedclaimed

An independent assessment report supports the benefit.

Compared with

Students randomly assigned to an online literacy program during the same lab time. Measured.

Without the system
156.20 (comparison group mean, MAP overall math score)
With it
159.00 (DreamBox group mean)
The system’s part
The trial compared students who used DreamBox with students who spent the same lab time on an online literacy program, so it isolates the program's effect on math. The WWC says that the program adapts in real time but does not show that it learns from data.
Limits
Not yet checked.
Costs and harms
Not yet checked.
Later
Not yet checked.

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Benefit type
Improved Learning
System
DreamBox Learning (adaptive online K-5 mathematics program)
Made by
DreamBox Learning, Inc.
Used by
Rocketship Education (three charter elementary schools in San Jose, California)
Where
San Jose, California, United States
Stage
In a pilot
Date
Kind
Aggregate result
Broad benefit
Training and Teaching Others
Collections
Scrutiny and findings
Last revised
31 October 2026

Sources

  1. Assessment report, by authors with no tie to the system.

    U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. Elementary School Mathematics intervention report: DreamBox Learning. December 2013, modified 5 February 2014. Pages 1 and 3.

    DreamBox Learning was found to have potentially positive effects on mathematics achievement for elementary school students.

Details

AI system

Workflow

Students used DreamBox in a computer lab at school, averaging 21.8 hours over four months. The program adapted the lesson sequence, difficulty, pace and number of hints to each student in real time.

Follow-up

Conditions for replication

The program supplements classroom math teaching. The developer recommends at least 90 minutes a week on the program.

Entry details

Sector

Education.

Purpose

DreamBox Learning, Inc. Built DreamBox Learning to individualize math instruction for students in grades K to 5 with lessons that adapt to each student.

Not yet checked: model, release, provider, role, configuration, inputs and outputs, autonomy, human oversight, beneficiaries, reach, distribution and access, duration, every measurement question, every money question, ownership and control, dependencies, cross-border connections, geopolitical implications, replication attempts, availability, institutional decision, grounds, action and result, success criterion, every evidence question, observed or intended, alternative assessments, related entries, other identifiers, category mappings.

Cite this record

Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). DreamBox Learning lifts early math scores in a San Jose trial (AIBD-0716). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 31 October 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-0716.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 4.0)

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