Impact by the Numbers
Outcomes based contracting works. Across states and districts, leaders are turning to the Center to build partnerships grounded in accountability, collaboration, and measurable results.
Our Impact
Outcomes based contracting improves student outcomes. After years of supporting states, districts, and providers, the Center for Outcomes Based Contracting brings both the evidence and the real-world stories that show what works.
Breaking Through Historic Barriers
The industry standard for students participating in EdTech programs meeting their recommended dosage is only 5%. By contrast, students participating in EdTech as part of the OBC 2025 cohort was 69%. That’s a 14x increase in program effectiveness!
When Contracts Change,
Trajectories Change
When Santa Ana Unified School District leaned into outcomes based contracting, the goal was simple but ambitious: make sure investments in literacy translated into real progress for students. Not someday. Not hypothetically. Now.
By shifting from paying for participation to paying for results, SAUSD aligned partners around accountability, implementation, and impact. The momentum is showing up in reading growth, stronger collaboration, and a renewed belief that better contracts can drive better outcomes. For funders, districts, and providers, this story offers a clear signal: when partnerships are built for results, futures change.
5
high-dosage tutoring contracts worth
$7.2M
31% of total contract value contingent on outcomes
2022
8
high-dosage tutoring contracts worth
$9.3M
33% of total contract value contingent on outcomes
2023
21
high-dosage tutoring contracts worth
$18.1M
40% of total contract value contingent on outcomes
2024
46
outcomes based contracts
worth
$28.0M
42% of total contract value contingent on outcomes
2025
A Nationwide Movement
Impact does not happen by chance. Outcomes based contracting gives districts the structure to turn intention into results and delivers outcomes that are 14 times stronger than traditional approaches.
Nationwide adoption of OBC
- 87 unique districts, education service agencies, and state agencies engaged with the Center
- 6 states have implemented state-wide adoption of Outcomes Based Contracting
Map Key
Navy represents state-level initiatives supporting OBC adoption
Light Blue represents states with individual LEAs that have engaged with the Center and/or adopted OBC
A common language for a growing field
The Standards of Excellence for Outcomes Based Contracting™ bring district leaders, providers, researchers, and technical assistance partners onto the same page about what quality looks like. Instead of starting from scratch, teams use the Standards to move faster and with confidence—who is served, what success means, how progress is measured, and what each partner is responsible for delivering. The result is a different kind of partnership: districts and providers stop working past each other and start building together, grounded in clarity, trust, and measurable results for students.
Our collaboration with the Center for OBC and the OBC Standards of Excellence has brough clarity and alignment to our work, keeping us centered on student outcomes, strengthening our stewardship of resources, and providing clear benchmarks to guide progress. We began by adopting core elements of the standards and aspire to full alignment to realize their greatest benefit for Florida students.
The model empowered districts to take the reins of edtech contract terms, led to implementation fidelity rates 10 times or more greater than standard product usage, and established meaningful mindset shifts.
Stories of Impact
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Starting Small, Thinking Big:
How Santa Ana USD Strengthened Literacy Through Outcomes Based ContractingIn 2023, Santa Ana Unified School District dedicated $3 million in Expanded Learning Opportunities Program funding to support nearly 3,000 students, including English learners, students experiencing homelessness, and youth in foster care, who were reading below the 40th percentile on NWEA MAP.
Partnering with the Center for Outcomes Based Contracting, SAUSD shifted from paying for services to paying for progress, tying provider payment to student growth measured through NWEA MAP, the Basic Phonics Skills Test, and grade-level reading fluency benchmarks.
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Standards of Excellence for OBC™
The Center for Outcomes Based Contracting created the Standards of Excellence to promote consistency, ensure quality, and increase scalability for outcomes based contracting. Brittany Johnson explains the benefits of the Standards of Excellence.
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Building on Success:
How Duval County’s Partnership with Amira Transformed Reading OutcomesIn 2024, Duval County Public Schools set out to support more than 2,600 students reading below grade level. The district had already seen the power of outcomes based contracting through a math tutoring pilot serving 450 students and achieving 53% of contracted outcomes, followed by an expanded program reaching 1,400 students and surpassing 100% of contracted outcomes.
With more than 65% of participating middle school students achieving learning gains on the state assessment, DCPS applied the model to literacy through its partnership with Amira, extending support to students who needed it most.