Hanover County Public School District Uses Business Objects to Help Improve Student Performance
SAN JOSE, Calif. - August 4, 2004 - Every day, administrators and teachers throughout the Hanover County Public Schools (HCPS) in Virginia work to ensure students reach their full potential. Today, an increasingly important part of this work is implementing education reform, such as the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which mandates accountability for student achievement, as well as state-level student achievement requirements such as the Virginia Standards of Learning. To meet these challenges, HCPS developed a business intelligence (BI) system to track, understand, and manage student performance that is based on software from Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ; Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 - BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence solutions.
“No Child Left Behind called for the teachers and administrators to focus even more closely on individual student achievement,” said Bill Flaherty, director of technology services at HCPS. “We had the capability to show overall gains in standardized test scores, but no way to determine if individual students were being 'left behind.' With Business Objects, we can now easily identify specific students with problematic test scores, determine the best way to help them, and systematically ensure they are making adequate yearly progress.”
Built using WebIntelligence from Business Objects, the BI system provides teachers and administrators with web-based access to the data stored in the school district's data warehouse. Data is updated every night, so administrators always have access to the most recent information.
Business Objects has helped HCPS satisfy its reporting requirements and remain one of the top 10 Virginia districts for academic achievement, despite spending the fewest dollars per pupil. This efficiency results from the ability to focus programs on the students who most need help while streamlining data collection and analysis.
For example, when HCPS issued grants to schools needing to improve performance in order to meet the Virginia Standards of Learning requirements, the district was able to easily track the schools, the students, and the types of remediation programs, such as using one-on-one tutors or hiring additional classroom teachers. The system allows the district to identify strategies that result in the greatest improvements for students needing assistance, so effective programs can be replicated throughout the district.
“Business Objects is a valuable tool which helps schools make data-driven decisions that strengthen the entire instructional program and provides insight into the instructional needs of individual students," said Stewart Roberson, superintendent of schools for Hanover County.
Business intelligence has also helped HCPS meet additional reporting requirements of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which created the Information Education Management System (IEMS) to determine the socio-economic makeup of schools and districts. The district must now send student records electronically into the IEMS, and data errors must be eliminated prior to submission. With Business Objects, administrators at HCPS can easily produce summary reports to review and correct the data before submission.
“Increasingly stringent academic performance requirements are fundamentally changing the way school districts manage student performance,” said Greg Lorden, vice president of Government for Business Objects. “Hanover County Public Schools is a role model for the ways business intelligence can help schools meet government reporting requirements while improving the ability to focus on the needs of each student.”
Business Objects: Improving Performance in State & Local Government Business Objects is a leading provider of business intelligence (BI) software to state and local governments across the United States. BI improves the ability of government agencies to manage budgets, cases, procurement, and human resources, as well as financial and operational performance. Business Objects and its partners are helping state and local governments improve the effectiveness of their tax and revenue administrators. States use business intelligence software to improve the performance and accountability of Medicaid and other human services programs. Education professionals use BI to acquire and distribute the information they need to support instruction, including the ability to measure, track, report, and manage new K-12 performance mandates.
For more information about Business Objects business intelligence solutions for the government, please visit: www.businessobjects.com/govt/.
About Business Objects
Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. With more than 35,000 customers worldwide, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 500, Business Objects helps organizations gain better insight into their business, improve decision making, and optimize enterprise performance. The company's business intelligence platform, BusinessObjects™ XI, offers the BI industry's most complete and trusted platform for performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and data integration. BusinessObjects XI includes Crystal Reports®, the industry standard for enterprise reporting. Business Objects has built the industry's strongest and most diverse partner community, and also offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.
Business Objects has dual headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and Paris, France. The company's stock is traded on both the Nasdaq (BOBJ) and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 - BOB) stock exchanges. More information about Business Objects can be found at www.businessobjects.com.
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