Tracking Student and School Performance in Accordance with No Child Left Behind Act is Top Priority for 4th Largest School District in the United States BURLINGTON, Mass., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cognos (Nasdaq: COGN; TSX: CSN), the world leader in business intelligence and performance management solutions, today announced that the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has standardized on Cognos 8 Business Intelligence as a key foundation in its commitment to improve student and school performance. M-DCPS is the fourth-largest school district in the U.S. with approximately 350,000 students, 50,000 employees and an annual budget of $6.1 billion. To better monitor school and student performance, M-DCPS began searching for a BI solution that could deliver critical information from their data warehouse to a wider audience. A solution that could fulfill the detailed reporting requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act was also needed. After a thorough assessment cycle, the evaluation committee selected Cognos 8 BI. Today, everyone across the M-DCPS district, from principals to administrators, uses Cognos 8 BI to manage, analyze and report on student performance in areas such as attendance, grades, and suspension rates. Problem areas are spotted quickly and easily, allowing for intervention times to be drastically reduced. For instance, schools used to have to wait up to six weeks for attendance reports, but with Cognos 8 BI, schools can see student attendance rates drop almost immediately and take action right away. Soon, M- DCPS expects one million people, from students and teachers to parents and community members, to be able to see trending information on the schools and district using portals on the Web. "We really love that we can drill down to the individual child and be very aware of what is going on for each student," said Debbie Karcher, CIO, Miami- Dade County Public Schools. "With Cognos 8 BI we can spot problems and weaknesses in schools and individual students much more quickly than before, allowing us to successfully meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. We can deliver this information to a wider audience and are able to let teachers and schools know where action needs to be taken." Cognos 8 BI provides decision makers at all levels of the enterprise with a consistent, accurate view of information to better manage performance. As a single product that easily integrates into M-DCPS' existing infrastructure with multiple systems and data sources, Cognos 8 BI is a robust technology foundation for BI standardization and corporate performance management. "Determining and understanding the critical drivers of student performance are the key challenges in meeting the goals of effectively measuring student and school performance, as set out by the No Child Left Behind Act," said Terence Atkinson, director of government and education solutions at Cognos. "With the insights Miami-Dade County Public Schools generates from using Cognos 8 BI, educators can make decisions about directing resources and drawing attention to problems areas that are not meeting the needs of individual students." Cognos is the performance management platform of choice among U.S. K-12 organizations, who use Cognos to fulfill the reporting and program management requirements set out by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Cognos performance management solutions are deployed in over 530 K-12 school districts, 13 State departments of education, and the U.S. Federal Department of Education, empowering over 20,000 schools to deliver better education programs and improve student performance for over 12 million American children and young adults. In addition to Miami-Dade County Public Schools, other K-12 customers include TIES, an education technology consortium of over 400 schools in 37 school districts across Minnesota; School District of Palm Beach County (FL); Arkansas Department of Education; and the New York City Department of Education, the largest school board in the United States with over 1 million students. For more information about Cognos K-12 solutions, please visit http://www.cognos.com/solutions/industry/education/k12.html. About Miami-Dade County Public Schools: Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is the fourth-largest district in the U.S. with approximately 350,000 students, 50,000 employees and an annual budget of $6.1 billion. The Miami-Dade County Public Schools district is committed to providing educational excellence for all by providing the highest quality education so that students are empowered to lead productive and fulfilling lives as lifelong and responsible citizens. M-DCPS pursues the highest standards in academic achievement and organizational performance, building positive relationships through honesty, respect and compassion, which enhance the self-esteem, safety, and well-being of its students, families and staff. M-DCPS also strives to foster an environment that serves all students and aspires to eliminate the achievement gap by honoring the diversity of its community by working as a team to ensure the educational success of all students. For more information, please visit the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Web site at http://www2.dadeschools.net/index.htm. About Cognos: Cognos, the world leader in business intelligence and performance management solutions, provides world-class enterprise planning and BI software and services to help companies plan, understand and manage financial and operational performance. Cognos brings together technology, analytical applications, best practices, and a broad network of partners to give customers a complete performance system. The Cognos performance system is an open and adaptive solution that leverages an organization's ERP, packaged applications, and database investments. It gives customers the ability to answer the questions - - How are we doing? Why are we on or off track? What should we do about it? - and enables them to understand and monitor current performance while planning future business strategies. Cognos serves more than 23,000 customers in more than 135 countries, and its top 100 enterprise customers consistently outperform market indexes. Cognos performance management solutions and services are also available from more than 3,000 worldwide partners and resellers. For more information, visit the Cognos Web site at http://www.cognos.com/. Cognos and the Cognos logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cognos Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Media Contacts: David DeRosa Cognos, Inc. 613-738-1338 ext. 3317 Kristen Orfanos Lois Paul & Partners, LLC, 781-782-5852 Investor Relations: John Lawlor Cognos, Inc. 613-738-3503 DATASOURCE: Cognos CONTACT: Media, David DeRosa of Cognos, Inc., +1-613-738-1338 ext. 3317, or, ; or Kristen Orfanos of Lois Paul & Partners, LLC, +1-781-782-5852, or ; or John Lawlor, Investor Relations of Cognos, Inc., +1-613-738-3503, or Web site: http://www.cognos.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/107867.html

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