Today’s episode is coming to you right from Getting Smart’s backyard — Bellevue, Washington!

Recently, the Getting Smart team went to Bellevue to talk with DreamBox Learning’s CEO and President, Jessie Woolley-Wilson. Jessie has been with DreamBox since 2010 and has been a leader in ed tech for more than two decades! She has always been driven by a singular belief that all children need and deserve high-quality learning opportunities, regardless of who they are or where they live.

 

At DreamBox Learning, Jessie Woolley-Wilson has overseen the growth of the adaptive math learning platform that now serves 3.5 million students! Their innovative software solution adapts to every individual learner, provides personalized instruction from intervention through enrichment, helps to develop skills and close gaps fast, and integrates assessment with instruction.

 

Listen in as Jessie and Tom talk about the origin of DreamBox, how DreamBox helps teacher teams use DreamBox effectively at school, the product roadmap for the future of DreamBox, what Jessie sees for the future of formative assessment, and what she has learned as a woman of color from leading a huge organization!

 

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today’s episode!

[:52] Tom welcomes Jessie Woolley-Wilson to the podcast!

[:57] Jessie speaks about her experiences at the University of Virginia and Harvard Business School.

[2:26] Why did Jessie decide to study Ed Tech at Harvard?

[4:24] Jessie speaks about her previous jobs before DreamBox and highlights her favorite one: LeapFrog!

[5:58] Jessie tells the origin story of DreamBox.

[7:00] What DreamBox means by intelligent adaptive learning.

[8:47] What drew Jessie to DreamBox Learning?

[11:02] How would Jessie describe what DreamBox is to someone who’s never heard of it before?

[11:56] How would Jessica compare DreamBox to the other similar products that are out there? Why is it a better product?

[14:24] How does DreamBox help teacher teams use DreamBox effectively at school?

[16:10] Jessie speaks about the datasets they see coming out of DreamBox — both from the side of it not being implemented correctly vs. when it is being implemented correctly.

[18:24] Jessie speaks about the DreamBox Nation platform and how it is being used for teachers to share their experiences with each other.

[19:11] How investments have helped DreamBox Learning.

[22:11] What’s on the product roadmap for DreamBox?

[27:29] What does the future of formative assessment look like? How might it be better in the future?

[29:45] Jessie shares her thoughts on leadership and what she has learned as a woman of color from leading a huge organization such as DreamBox.

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Jessie Woolley-Wilson

DreamBox Learning

LeapFrog

DreamBox Nation

The Rise Fund’s Investment into DreamBox Learning

Hidden Figures (Film, 2016)

Black Girls Code

Bryan Stevenson

 

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