The Premium Advantage: Accelerating Student Growth

Every year, we ask the same questions: are students catching up, keeping up, and getting ahead?

The answer this year is a clear “Yes.” Students using both our Free and Premium plans made substantial progress throughout the 2025–2026 school year. Consistent practice helped thousands of learners move closer to grade-level expectations, and many finished the year performing at or above level.

But one pattern stood out across every grade band and every usage level: students with Premium access consistently achieved stronger outcomes.

The gap wasn't just a matter of time on the platform. Even when students with both Free and Premium access used the platform for a similar amount of time, Premium learners demonstrated faster growth. Why is that? Premium access equips teachers with powerful tools designed to turn practice into progress:

Unlimited Assignments for targeted skill practice
Fluency Practice to build both speed and accuracy with core math facts
Detailed Reports that help teachers identify strengths and challenges
Unlimited Printables for additional offline learning
And many more features

Combined with consistent weekly practice, these features helped students make the most of every learning session.

The data suggests an encouraging takeaway: the Free version is enough to help many students make meaningful progress. But for those looking to maximize growth, close learning gaps faster, and help students move beyond grade-level expectations, Premium access delivered a measurable advantage throughout the year.

Not just catching up: giving students the tools to get ahead

Let's begin with students in grades 3–5 who used the platform for at least 15 minutes per week, in both the Free and Premium cohorts.

At the beginning of the school year, roughly 70% of these students were performing below grade level. This reflects a common challenge faced by schools: a large share of students begin behind, and much of the year’s work goes toward helping them catch up.

After a year of consistent practice, the picture looked very different. Among Free users, the share of students performing below grade level dropped from approximately 70% to 30%. By the end of the year, only 10% remained far below grade level.

In other words, more than half of the students who started behind had caught up to grade level within a single school year using just the Free version of the platform.

Premium users who began from a similar starting point and spent a comparable amount of time on the platform each week achieved even stronger outcomes. By year’s end, only 24% remained below grade level, and the proportion of students performing far below grade level was minimal.

The difference is meaningful: with the same level of weekly engagement, a larger share of Premium learners reached grade-level proficiency, while very few remained significantly behind.

Our youngest students provided one of the most interesting comparisons of the year because the Premium and Free cohorts started from different baselines. Among K–2 Free users, 55% began the year below grade-level expectations. For Premium users, that figure was 59%, meaning a larger share of students entered the year needing additional support.

By the end of the year, both groups had made remarkable progress. Among Free users, the share of students performing below grade level fell from 55% to just 13%. As a result, 42% of students moved from below grade level to performing on or above grade level by year's end.

Students with Premium access did even better. Despite starting further behind, they reduced the share of below-grade-level students from 59% to just 10%, with 49% of students moving from below grade level to on- or above-grade-level performance. In other words, Premium learners were not only able to catch up — but they also managed to reach or exceed grade-level expectations by the end of the school year.

Premium access boosts math growth across every usage level

Attaining grade-level skills is an important milestone, but it tells only part of the story. To understand how much students are actually learning, we also measure academic growth over time.

Our growth metric is scaled so that a score of 100 represents one full year of expected progress during a single school year. Scores above 100 indicate that students are learning faster than expected and making additional gains.

This year, the pattern was remarkably consistent. Across every usage tier — low, average, and recommended — Premium users demonstrated at least 10% more growth than Free users by the end of the year.

Among students who reached the recommended weekly usage target, K–2 Free users achieved a growth score of 106, exceeding a full year of expected progress. Premium users in the same group reached a growth score of 120, meaning they gained the equivalent of nearly 20% more learning than would typically be expected over the course of a school year.

In grades 3–5, Free users demonstrated an impressive growth score of 115, meaning they gained substantially more than a typical year's expected progress. Premium users reached 133, equivalent to roughly one-third more growth than students are expected to make in a school year.

For students who begin the year behind grade-level expectations, that additional growth can be the margin that closes the gap rather than just narrowing it, and sometimes carries them past grade level by year’s end.

Significant math growth at every grade, starting level, and usage level

The data is clear: learning with Happy Numbers drives meaningful progress, especially in Premium classrooms.

Even among students using only the Free version of the platform, regular engagement helped many who started below grade-level expectations reach grade level within a single school year. The gains were evident across age groups and performance levels.

For those seeking to accelerate student progress, Premium users consistently achieved stronger outcomes. They showed higher growth scores, were more likely to reach grade-level expectations, and were less likely to remain significantly behind by year's end, even when they started from similar or more challenging baselines. To bring similar growth to your students, unlock Premium access today.