The school wanted a program that would give students personalized practice and give teachers data on specific groups of students to work with in small groups. "Most importantly, we wanted to change students' attitude towards math," Dixon says.

The school compared several programs and looked for one that supported a strong conceptual understanding of math. "Happy Numbers kind of stood out because it adjusts to students' individual needs and it emphasizes that conceptual understanding," Dixon says.

The students who are truly doing Happy Numbers get their time in and watch their progress bar move as they complete their individual tasks, Dixon says. "It's like they know what they need to do for the week," she says.

Knowing what to do each week has pushed students, she says, because the goals are very manageable and they get a sense of accomplishment from reaching them.

"I'm thinking the progress bar is genius," Dixon says.

Time and Task Targets in the student view. The bars show progress toward the weekly goals, and the pop-up breaks it down by day and week.

Teachers get class and student reports from the program. As an instructional coach, Dixon says, she was excited about the actionable data they would get immediately to inform their instruction.

"The skills report is a game-changer because it allows teachers to quickly identify the learning gaps and create targeted instructional groups where it's not just the computer teaching, but the computer is giving us the data so that we can pull small groups to help every child where they are," she says.

The data is easy to access and tied directly to instruction, she says. "Teachers feel confident when they pull their small groups because they have targeted skills to work on."

Dixon says students' confidence really stood out. "Kids were now willing to take risks, which in the past they would just kind of shut down when it became too challenging."

The depth of the students' mathematical understanding surprised her. "They were building conceptual understanding and developing stronger problem-solving skills," she says.

"Now students will discuss strategies. They're explaining their thinking with confidence and they're truly viewing themselves as mathematicians," she says.

"Our data from this past school year showed an increase from the baseline at 43% of our students meeting or exceeding grade level and at the end of the year we were up to 95% of our students meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations," Dixon says.

The share of K–5 students meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations moved from 43% to 95% by the end of the year. 

The figures come from Happy Numbers' internal analysis of 2025–26 usage and cover the 175 students who averaged at least 10 minutes of practice a week, out of 204 K–5 students rostered in the program. They compare each student's level on Happy Numbers' placement test with an end-of-year level based on the program's own assessment and skill mastery.

"Our district values resources that demonstrate impact," she says. The growth, combined with positive teacher feedback, has generated strong support from district leaders, Dixon adds.

Dixon says the school's focus was the students who began the year below grade level. "They achieve success," she says, "and now they think, 'I can do math.'"

"What matters most to us is helping students believe they can be successful in math," she says. "Happy Numbers has been one tool that has helped make that happen."