Portland Public Schools Partners with Certica Solutions to Improve Data Quality

District Certifies Data on an Ongoing Basis
WAKEFIELD, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
Certica Solutions today announced that Portland Public Schools (PPS), the
largest district in Oregon with 46,000 students, has chosen Certica`s K-12 data
certification software to implement a new data quality improvement process to
support student achievement, ensuring the accuracy, completeness and timeliness
of the data the district is required to submit to the Oregon Department of
Education (ODE) several times each year.

Certica`s software, called Certify™, provides daily, personalized, web-based
data certification scorecards to central office and school personnel, so they
can easily review, investigate and correct data errors. This capability will
allow PPS to significantly shorten the time it takes to identify and resolve
data problems and improve data quality. Certify will also allow PPS to monitor
data for program compliance and policy issues, such as student dropout rate,
providing alerts to patterns of attendance data that could indicate that certain
students are at risk of dropping out and are in need of intervention services.

Like many districts across the country, PPS has been challenged by complex and
changing data reporting requirements, which can be stressful and burdensome for
school districts. In addition to changes in data requirements, ODE recently made
changes to the frequency and content of submissions. In reviewing its approach
to state reporting, PPS searched for a way to best utilize valuable personnel
resources, while satisfying the changing ODE mandates. The district has adopted
Certify to institute an ongoing, automated process, which reduces the time
pressure associated with reconciling and verifying data just prior to state
submission. In addition, Certify will allow PPS to improve the accuracy and
effectiveness of all other district data reporting and analysis based on the
same information.

PPS is initially applying Certify and the data certification process to its
preparation for ODE`s Average Daily Membership data submission, which ties to
the district`s funding. Says Dona Lehr, program director for data and policy
analysis at PPS, "Certify will give us the ability to make data certification a
daily, ongoing, year-round process. The software eases the pressure on school
personnel and allows us to measure the quality of our data at any point in time.
We anticipate that Certify will give us increased confidence that the data we
use for decision making and submit to the state is as accurate as possible,
helping to ensure that we receive the state funding necessary to educate our
students."

About Certica Solutions, Inc.

Certica Solutions provides compliance and accountability solutions for the K-12
education system. The company`s data certification software, called Certify™,
enables education agencies to maximize funding, optimize regulatory reporting,
and ensure compliance with education policies and mandates. Founded in 2001,
Certica counts among its customers several state departments of education,
educational service agencies, and numerous school districts nationwide.

Certica Solutions
Sarah Bassett, 617-899-6549
sbassett@certicasolutions.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009