BURLINGTON MA, APRIL 23, 2003—The New York City Department of Education is using data and powerful reporting and analytics from Cognos (NASDAQ: COGN; TSX: CSN) the world leader in business intelligence (BI) and corporate performance management. With more than one million students, the NYC Department of Education is the largest school board in the U.S.

Using Cognos, the NYC Department of Education can look at data collected from across 1,300 schools. By aggregating data from finance, tax levy systems, personnel data, attendance and exam data, the department can determine correlations between class size and student attendance, or between funds allocated for textbooks and student performance. This information is used by administrators across the region to monitor trends in data and scorecard the performance of the students, the schools, and the principals that run them. The information is available via extranet to the general public.

"Using Cognos has greatly increased the speed and accessibility of our data - previously, there was a significant cost and time commitment involved in the manual analysis of this data," said James Spinelli, consultant to the NYC Department of Education. "By proactively looking at trends across grades and schools we are able to pinpoint problems in the early stages and quickly take corrective action. This level of analysis was simply not possible before. Administrators can now access reports like the Period Attendance Report and enrollment statistics instantly and securely over the Web."

"Cognos provides K-12 educators with the visibility and technology foundation needed to improve student and classroom performance. By understanding the profile of successful classroom performance, and investing in the areas that will help students the most, K-12 institutions can build an organization and curriculum that effectively delivers on performance obligations. And above all else, is able to quickly identify students that are falling behind, and assure they get the help needed to assure their success," said Terence Atkinson, director of public sector solutions, Cognos. "Cognos delivers the industry's most complete performance management offering that is best suited to meet the complex needs of the public education systems."