FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sarah Hiller

August 30, 2005 202-667-0901 or sarah.hiller@widmeyer.com

Statement from Cinthia Coletti Haan,

Sponsor, California Education Summit of Business and Education Leaders

And Founder and Chairman, The Haan Foundation for Children

On today’s Event:

“I was honored to help support today’s important event, and my co-sponsors and I were thrilled to welcome US Education Secretary Spellings to our great state. It was critical that she see for herself the level of commitment, energy, and resources Californians have dedicated to improving our schools and our students’ education.

“A major theme in today’s sessions was the role data play in our school reform efforts. I believe data plays more than one role, in fact. First, student achievement data must be collected, analyzed, and understood in order to help educators make informed decisions that affect students’ progress.

“But we also must insist that data be used to determine which specific instructional practices are used in individual classrooms. For too long, teachers in many California classrooms have subjected their students to untested, unproven methods that failed to educate. Sadly, this problem has had its greatest impact on reading instruction, arguably the most vital skill any child must have to grow and develop.

“I know Secretary Spellings shares my belief that data and research must drive our decisions on how best to educate our students. Her participation in today’s meetings is yet further evidence that untested, unreliable instructional practices – particularly in reading – will soon go the way of the dinosaur.”

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The goal of the HAAN FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN is to give hope to the millions of children who are struggling with academic failure, and provide direction to parents, teachers and schools on how to best ensure every child becomes a proficient learner and has the opportunity to lead a rewarding and fulfilling life.

Among the Foundation’s many projects is the Power4Kids Initiative, a landmark study designed to provide conclusive evidence of the merit in remedial reading programs. It is the second largest study of its kind conducted in public schools and includes more than 800 children in 27 school districts and 50 schools.