Brittany Miller and Jasmine Walker of the Southern Education Foundation's (SEF) outcomes-based contracting initiative joined me to discuss how this innovative approach, which ties financial payments to educational outcomes, is shaping the future of education funding and accountability. We dive into how outcome-based contracts works across different types of educational services, what sets SEF’s work apart, and why now is an opportune time for districts to get on board.
Paying vendors based on student outcomes has long been one of my big pushes to school districts. It’s among the reasons I get excited by folks like Joel Rose and Teach to One who say they’d be thrilled to be paid based on outcomes. But so many superintendents have always asked me back: how can we actually do this? Brittany and Jasmine give some great answers—and helped me understand why past efforts in outcome-based contracts haven’t worked.
Michael Horn:
Welcome to the Future of Education, where we are dedicated to building a world in which all individuals can build their passions, fulfill their potential, and live a life of purpose. To help us think through this today… I'm excited about this topic because I feel like as far back as 2009 or 2010, after Disrupting Class had come out, I would be on the stump talking with district superintendents and the like, thinking about the importance of mastery-based learning, outcomes and stuff like that. I'd say, well, why don't you sign your vendors to outcome-based contracts? They would all look at me like how would we do that? And I didn't know the answer. So to help us think through that today, I'm tremendously excited because we have two individuals who are doing that on a daily basis. We have Brittany Miller. She's the director of the Southern Education Foundation's Outcomes-Based Contracting Initiative, so literally called the name that we want to talk about.
And we have Jasmine Walker, who is the Senior Manager for the Outcomes-Based Contract Initiative work, and she's done this in Duval County, Florida, as well, which we'll hear about. So, Brittany and Jasmine, thank you so much for being here. It's great to see you both.
Brittany Miller:
Yeah, thank you for having us. We're excited to chat.
Brittany and Jasmine’s Journey to the Work
Michael Horn:
You bet. I'm excited to learn, so let's dig in with that. Before we get into some of the nitty gritty, Brittany, why don't I start with you? Tell us about how you got into this work. I understand that you put some of this into action in a previous position in Denver before you joined the Southern Education Foundation. I'd love to hear about your journey into this work.
Brittany Miller:
Absolutely. Prior to joining the Outcomes-Based Contracting Initiative on staff, I was a district leader participating in our cohorts, which is the way that we primarily teach outcomes-based contracting to districts. In that pilot cohort, Jasmine was my counterpart in Duval doing the same work that I was doing in Denver in that original cohort. What we were doing is we had just found out about all of the Esser financing that we were going to be getting for the district to support student learning recovery. I had just launched a new department, the Expanded Academic Learning department. With that, we had several initiatives that were focused on student learning recovery outside the traditional core instruction. One of those was high-impact tutoring. We had been involved in the feasibility work that happened out of Harvard University originally. I let out our first outcomes-based contracts for mathematics for our students in grades 4 - 12 with a virtual tutoring vendor, where I think it ended up being about 50% of the contract was contingent on meeting agreed upon student outcomes. So I learned a lot about how to reframe that conversation with a provider to focus on what I know best as a district leader, which with an instructional background is not contracting. What I know best is student learning. When you bring that to the forefront of the contract and you focus on what you want to be true for students, it just shifts that relationship between provider and district. Even down to the school level so that we can all be accountable to the same thing and be really clear about that. So then I was hooked and continued to apply OBC principles to my work in DPS until I ended up coming over and. And had the pleasure of coaching Jasmine through her first semester of implementation of OBC. And now here we are.
Michael Horn:
Wow. So, Jasmine, I want to hear your story into this as well. Like Brittany just said, I understand you had done some of this work in Duvall County and it was also around tutoring. Also around mathematics, I believe. So tell us about your journey into this.
Jasmine Walker:
Yes. So I was first introduced to outcomes based contracting by my superintendent and deputy superintendent. They had heard about the work that was being done through the pilot, and due to COVID and all the things that took place there, we kind of delayed. We ended up joining that first cohort of districts that were learning about outcomes based contracting and how to use it as a lever within our districts. Specifically around those Esser funds and how we can use it for high-impact tutoring. During that time, I was the K-12 math director in Duval County. As I reviewed our data, we had a critical concern about how our students in middle school were performing in mathematics, specifically, those students that were enrolled in 8th-grade mathematics. Typically in our district, what would happen is students that were enrolled in 8th-grade mathematics, were actually students who were performing below grade level, because students who were performing at or above grade level, were in accelerated classrooms. As 8th graders, they would enter Algebra 1, where students that were enrolled in pre-algebra, as an 8th grader, their start, and access to Algebra 1 was being delayed. Some made it into Algebra 1 in 9th grade.
Others weren't accessing Algebra 1 until 10th grade. And we all know that Algebra 1 is that gatekeeper course. If you can't get through it, it lessens the opportunity for other areas of mathematics, other coursework, like science, and then, as we look at students later on in life, what they have access to. What we wanted to do with our outcomes-based contract was change what was happening for our students in Duval County. Also have strategic use of the dollars that we were using through Esser so that we were tying our funds to student achievement.
The Nuts and Bolts of Outcomes-Based Contracting
Michael Horn:
Super interesting, because we know the use of ESSER funds has become a bit of a flash button issue across the country in terms of were they really aligned to outcomes, and there you put it into the contract. So I'd love to dig into what these arrangements look like that you're putting in place. Brittany, you mentioned that 50%, I think, of the agreement was contingent on outcomes, but just talk to us about what these agreements look like. Brittany, why don't you go first, and then, Jasmine, on this one, you can supplement the answer.
Brittany Miller:
Yeah, so the way that we set up the arrangements as district leaders and then how we coach our districts that we work with now on this is, to start with what matters most to the student population that you want to serve. Everything is literally grounded in that initial concept. We do all of that before we open up what we call a rate card calculator, which is the dynamic pricing tool we have that helps districts price the outcomes. Essentially, once the district has decided on the student population and the outcomes that they believe students can achieve by participating in the intervention, then we coach them through putting together a rate card, which articulates to the provider how much money will be available as a base payment for services delivered, more like your traditional contract that you would have. And then the other portion of payment, we recommend at least 40%. A lot of our districts have been pushing that further to be contingent on agreed upon student outcomes. And so those payments are not delivered until after student data is available and you see whether or not students submit the outcomes. So that's, like, at a very base level, what it looks like. But there's a lot of different elements of both technical and adaptive work that goes into making those decisions as a district and then negotiating that with a provider, either via RFP or contract renegotiation, all of which leads to this mutual accountability between the district provider and school to land on those student outcomes.
Mutual Accountability and Continuous Improvement
Michael Horn:
You've both actually mentioned this mutual student accountability several times at this point. Jasmine, I'd love to talk. Have you talk to us about this? Because on the surface, I think when I hear these contracts, I think, well, this is putting the vendor accountable. How are you structuring it so that the district and school and everyone has skin in the game as well in the same way?
Jasmine Walker:
So I wanted to add on to what Brittany said and then go a little bit deeper into accountability. So one of the things that is different, like the big shift in mindset when it comes to outcomes based contracting that districts are having to make, is that they are paying for outcomes and not services. The district is driving the price because they're saying, this is what we're willing to pay for these outcomes. So that is a big shift, even for myself as a former district leader from traditional contractors. I just wanted to share that. And something that we always tell districts is this is like our slogan, if you will. We say, we buy outcomes, not services. And that's how we begin to shift toward that agreement of mutual accountability, because what we want is both parties to have skin in the game.
So when we talk about mutual accountability, especially if we're doing like an RFP or bid documents, the district lays out what are things that they need from the provider in order to ensure that we're working towards meeting student outcomes. But in the same token, these are the things that the district is going to do in order to ensure that the conditions that are needed for the provider to be successful happen. Also in the RFP, the provider can say, hey, these are some additional things that we're going to need from the district to ensure that we can do what we need to do for our services or our products to work. So that's something that is very clear, that's laid out in an RFP and in a contract, so that the contract becomes more sticky, if you will, because you're clarifying what both parties are responsible for. So in the past, district took on all the risks they paid regardless of whether any outcomes were achieved. Now that responsibility is being shared. At the end, hopefully win win situation, students achieve the outcomes providers incentivize for their innovation and the work that they put into ensuring that students achieve those outcomes.
Michael Horn:
So stay with that for a moment. Jasmine, if I can go to you one more on this, which is what happens then, if, say, the district doesn't fulfill their side of the bargain, what's the upside for the vendor or protection, if you will, for the vendor in that circumstance?
Jasmine Walker:
Michael, I'm glad you asked about that because there is something that's built into the contract to support that work as well, because we all know things happen. So there's language written into the contract that says if certain things don't happen, the district will be responsible for not only paying that base payment, but those contingent payments for the students that were involved as well. So, like, an example that I'll use is when we talk about high impact tutoring, in order for students to receive tutoring, they actually have to be at school, or if it's virtual, they have to actually get on the computer. A provider doesn't have control of that. Who does have some control of that is the school. So laying in some language that where a district says attendance will be at 80% and so that they have a metric that they have to meet in order to ensure, again, that they're providing the necessary conditions for the provider to do, to meet those expectations that were laid out in the contract, those outcomes. Additionally, something else that is built in and part of our, a part of OBC that we're very passionate about is continuous improvement. So although we have these mutual accountability mechanisms built into the contract, it's not like, oh, in one instance, this didn't happen.
District pays the provider, you know, regardless, there's checkpoints along the way so that both parties are able to continuously improve on the implementation if something isn't going right, coming together, problem solving, so that we can end up where we want to be, which is achieving those student outcomes.
Attributing Growth to Specific Interventions
Michael Horn:
Super interesting. So, Brittany, let me turn to you on this one then, because I'm just sort of curious how you measure growth and attribute it to a specific vendor, because obviously, and maybe, Jasmine, part of your answer starts to get at this. But we know that, say, math learning, there's a lot of things impacting that child's achievement, not just the tutoring intervention. So how do you think about attributing gains or not gains, right. To a specific vendor and measuring that?
Brittany Miller:
Yeah, it's a question that comes up a lot. My short answer is, we're not there yet. We're still in the process of evaluating this work and figuring out from, like, a rigorous evaluation perspective to what degree is outcomes based contracting really shifting the outcomes for kids?
More generally speaking, when it comes to the specific provider and district arrangement, we are not claiming that it's a one to one correlation that if said student receives x intervention, then it's completely attributed to the provider. Depends on the intervention. It also depends on what else is happening in that child's life. So some of the students are receiving really strong core instruction from a supportive teacher on a daily basis. We have other cases where, unfortunately, you know, there's long term subs in the mathematics classroom, since that's such a hard position to fill, especially when we're looking at secondary schools, in which case, you know, perhaps it is more attributed to the tutoring provider because they're getting the same tutor every day, which, you know, is in some cases the most consistent instruction that we're able to get that particular child.
In either case, the focus is not to demonstrate any sort of causality between the two, but instead to get us focused on the thing that matters, which is student learning and use the research base for that particular product line to name what we think is possible for kids.
And so in the high impact tutoring instance, we know that students can achieve significant growth if they participate in tutoring sessions a minimum of three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes in a group size of no more than one to three.
There's been plenty of research on this coming out of the national student support accelerator and other entities that we work really closely with to understand the research base and what's possible. And so then what we're coaching the district around is saying, what is our theory of action of what it would take to actually achieve the outcomes that we know are possible from the research base, and then align that theory into practice, by the way, that we set up the arrangement with the provider.
And then what that does is it shifts behavior of the adults in the system to stay focused on what we know can happen for a child based on the research for that particular product line. And then from there, if the outcomes are achieved, yes, the provider gets paid, but what they're getting paid is what they would have been paid regardless of whether or not outcomes were achieved in a prior relationship.
And so there is an upside that we build into the pricing scenario with our district so that they are rewarding the provider should all of the outcomes be met for taking that additional risk. But it's not, you know, a bonus payment of any kind because there's so much money contingent on the outcomes that it's actually part of the payment that they would usually provide to a service provider just for delivering services.
And so anyways, there's a lot of research questions that we're still answering about this, but the biggest thing that we coach our districts around is like, what does the research base on this product line say? What's your baseline data say about your student population? And then how do you figure out what you believe is possible so that we all just get focused on the right thing, even if it's not perfect.
The Response from Vendors
Michael Horn:
It's really interesting the way you're segmenting it, the research based on the product or service that we're talking about, and making sure that the payments or the expectations are in line with what that could deliver. It gets into my next question, and I'd love to have you both comment on it if you want. Brittany, why don't we start with you? But it's around. Are vendors willing to do this? And do you see different vendors willing to do this, say, in tutoring versus textbooks or digital curriculum? What's that conversation look like? Because obviously, it's a very big shift for the vendor, but in many ways, it shouldn't necessarily be a surprising one because I always say, like, in any market, the customer should always be right. Education is this weird one where somehow that has not always been followed. So, Brittany, why don't you share some of your experience with that? And then, Jasmine, I bet you have some stories, too.
Brittany Miller:
Yeah, absolutely. And to that point, I think that that's something that is, we are always coaching our districts around, and Jasmine and I had to be coached around as well, which is you're the buyer. It turns out you actually have the spending power as a district.
And that is, it's different for us in K-12 education. I'm not entirely sure why, but it's a systems problem, right. It's not an individual district leader or an individual provider problem. It's the system overall. And so what we found is that because in so many cases, the buyer is an instructional leader. And like I started with, I didn't learn how to negotiate contracts when I was going to, you know, school for all of the years, learning about instructional methods and how to, like, help kids learn and how you measure that, right. What I did do is learn how to apply that through the outcomes based contracting work to a contracting process, which then gives me the buying power and the leverage that I actually understand in order to drive student outcomes.
And so taking that world of, you know, the chief financial officer's side of the house and the chief academic officer side of the house and putting those together is new and different for our districts. And it has the power to really transform these agreements with a provider to make sure that we stay focused on student learning. When we think about other product lines, we are constantly doing feasibility work to see where other areas are that we can go into outcomes based contracting. This is very new to k twelve. And so all of our district leaders, when they first learn about this, they're like, I should be doing this with everything. Why haven't I been doing this with everything all along? Right? And our response to that is, we agree, but not yet. Like, let's figure it out step by step. Right? It's new to the marketplace and in more developed marketplaces, like the Ed tech intervention space that we're in now, we see that there's different nuances that we have to pay attention to.
So when we're talking about high impact tutoring as a use case, we had 55 unique providers apply to the different rfps that were released over two cohorts. No RFP got less than ten responses. And all of the districts were able to successfully negotiate a contract and are either implementing services now or have renegotiated and continue to implement services either with the same provider or a different provider.
Making OBC Work for EdTech Contracts
So we have those proof points in place, and we really believe that because of the feasibility work we did and because we worked alongside both providers and districts to understand what arrangement would actually work for this, we've seen so much traction from the provider side where they're definitely willing to do this work. So we're in that same process now with Ed Tech, where we haven't had any rfps released yet, but our template is going out to our districts, I think today or tomorrow for the RFP based on all the work that we've done. And so we're working to develop that infrastructure alongside our districts and providers and make sure that what we're putting out really aligns with that research base. And edtech is a much more advanced and stable marketplace. And so it is different than when we were talking about high impact tutoring in these providers were in many cases growing pretty rapidly in the time of Essa.
We're not talking about a time when districts are really shrinking their budget, specifically when they look at how many ed tech interventions they've put in place over the last several years and thinking more critically about how to really serve students effectively with those interventions. And so we have to think about things like, what's your data interoperability look like in your district? Like, will you be able to successfully share outcomes with your provider? And all of the different metrics that, you know would lead to those outcomes.
What is your usage rate look like currently for that product? Like, what's realistic in terms of what to get to for usage rate if you were to shrink the student population and have a more focused intervention for that group of students.
And so all of those different elements go into what makes it something that providers are willing to consider because of the intentionality around it and that shared risk.
It's not that all the risk goes to the provider. It's a shared risk so that we can really nail down, like, how to arrive on student outcomes effectively.
Michael Horn:
Jasmine, what would you add?
Jasmine Walker:
I would add that I was definitely one of those district leaders that said, I'm going to do this for everything. But what I tell districts now, let's not treat outcomes based contracting like it's a silver bullet. Let's get clear about how we are using our procurement processes as a lever to support implementation of products and services for our students. When it comes to vendors responding, I was one of those districts. I was like, people are going to actually respond to this RFP. I got 16 responses. So there were vendors that were willing to get in, roll up their sleeves, and, you know, help us to move our students. So that wasn't an issue at all, as I think about the districts that we're working with now, now that we're in the edtech space.
Brittany shared that, you know, we conducted a feasibility study. So the people that participated in that feasibility study was both districts and providers, small districts, larger districts, nonprofit providers versus for profit providers, charter school management organizations. So there were different groups of people that helped to inform network. In addition to that feasibility study, we also pulled together an edtech working group, and that group was made up of district leaders and providers to help inform this mutual accountability piece that we talked about to inform what this pricing model was going to look like. Because, like Brittany shared, it's different from high impact tutoring. So we got a lot of folks involved, a lot of different stakeholders to help us to build out what this work was going to look like as we moved into this new area of innovation, like we shared, you know, we're educating districts about this form of contracting, but we're doing it for providers as well. So we just finished a provider series where we wrapped up talking about what outcomes based contracting looks like, specifically targeting our edtech providers so they can become knowledgeable about outcomes based contracting and how it applies to their context. In the fall, you do a little plug.
In the fall, we'll be doing a fall, our annual fall convening where district leaders come from across the country to learn about outcomes based contracting and begin to think about how they can leverage it in their districts. Some of the folks are our alumni. They're returning folks that want to expand and deepen their work in their districts. And then others are just new. They heard about us. They want to learn more and they want to do it this year. We're also going to do. At the end of that, we're going to offer a provider summit.
So we're going to engage with providers, both from the high impact tutoring world, from the edtech world, and maybe even our curriculum based professional learning world, so we can continue to spread the message and educate folks on both sides.
Why OBC Is Working This Time Around
Michael Horn:
It's great. And the fact that you'd get 16 vendors off the top and then start to develop this ecosystem through these convenings and the like sounds incredible. Momentum. I'm just curious a little bit more about the why hasn't this happened before? And when I dug into this a little bit, it seemed like there were some efforts to try this back in the 1990s and stuff like that, and it didn't really work out, and I don't know the reasons why. So I wondered if you can sort of point to what's maybe different now than past attempts to try to put this in place. I'll let whoever, whichever one of you wants to take that can jump in.
Jasmine Walker:
I jump on the first, and then Brittany can follow up with it. But what I would say is the world is different. When we think about how fast, like, everything is starting to innovate, how AI is coming into play, how things are. When I think about the McDonald's that I just saw where there are no people, everything is automated. There's trucks, semi trucks driving down the road with no driver. So I think that this type of contracting is just the right time. I don't think we were quite ready for this level of contracting, maybe in the nineties, but the way that we're going, we're to innovating. We have to innovate when it comes to our buying practices as well. And I think OBC is one of those things.
Brittany Miller:
Yeah, I'll add on to that, Jasmine. I think there's a couple of things coming together at the nexus of this context. And then I'll also speak a little bit to, like, the things that we've learned that are making these arrangements successful. So when it comes to the context that we're living in, right. We have AI, we have declining budgets for school districts, we have a lot of boards of educations across the country saying, what happened with our esser funding? Was it actually tied to outcomes, as you named earlier, Michael? And so with all of those different factors coming into play together, outcomes based contracting has found a way to sit in the middle of that space for the districts that are participating so that they're really able to understand how we can leverage those different elements of the contract in order address all of those changes that are happening.
And the reason that I believe that we're seeing so many districts signing on to do the ED tech intervention work is because they recognize that something's going to have to shift if they're actually going to make good use of technology in the classroom.
It's no surprise that we have really low usability or usage rates for these ed tech interventions that we know can make a difference in a kid's life. But none of them are actually used the same way that they are in a randomized control trial.
So we're thinking about that really carefully and because of the way that boards of education are asking for. What's your evidence that this is actually working for kids? Why are we spending x million of dollars on it? And the district's just having to shrink the budget like, this is a really practical application of those different factors coming together and for the edtech components of that, specifically, when it comes to all of the driverless vehicles and technology that Jasmine was speaking about, I think we have a real responsibility to make sure that as we go down these new frontiers, we stay focused on what matters in education, and that is student learning, period, the end.
And so we don't just collect quantitative data. We also collect qualitative data and go and do empathy interviews with students in the districts that we support so that the provider and district can hear directly from kids about how this is impacting them.
That creates that power and that relationship to stay focused on the student experience and student learning. And so when all of of this different innovation and rapid change is happening, we can ground in one thing, and that's something that we can all measure together and really understand how to get better and better at that as the world continues to change. So that's kind of the context piece. I can answer what our project does differently as well. Would that be helpful?
Michael Horn:
Yeah, I think let's do that. Yeah.
The Southern Education Foundation Difference
Brittany Miller:
Okay, cool. And then, so for the outcomes based contracting project in particular and the work that we've been leading, I think that the difference from what I've seen in other pay for performance models, because we get folks that call us and say, hey, what do you think of this pay for performance model? Is really that the pay for performance in its most traditional sense early on, was really focused only on how to hold the person providing the services accountable and the real shift in the way that we do business and that we've worked with our technical assistance partner or third sector capital that's done this work in various social sector industries is to make sure that it's not just the provider that's accountable, but also the entity that's purchasing the service. And that is different from what I've seen in other models where it still leaves everything up to chance. Because even though it's in the best interest of the district to achieve those outcomes, if it's not something that you're contractually obligated to and payment is tied to, as Jasmine was explaining for the mutual accountability language in the contract, then it doesn't rise to the top of your list as a district leader. You're just too busy. So by tying it into the contract and into payment, putting it in front of your board, it's a lot easier for me as a district leader to say to all of the folks that I'm working with, we actually have to do this because if not, we're going to have to pay for outcomes that our kids aren't achieving. And that shifts the conversation and it shifts the way that we're able to work alongside the district and provider. What happens with funds that are spent
Michael Horn:
It's really interesting. There's two elements there that seem really important. One is the fact that you have those qualitative measures so that you're not getting too, I guess, narrowly focused on maybe one number or something like that, that could get manipulated or something like that. And then second, it sounds like that really thoughtful conversation about making sure that the district is accountable is so critical so that it becomes a priority for all parties. It's not just sort of like, well, we threw it over the fence to the vendor and somehow they'll do magic. I guess that gets into the last question I want to finish up on, which is the outcomes piece of this I think is the most exciting part. Right. If we're really able to align around moving the needle for students, that could be huge.
The second piece of this is presumably the districts can now save resources where it's not working for a given student and then either redeploy those resources to something that is of higher value for that individual or save it for the next year so that they can help that child. I love you to talk us through when funds aren't spent, those contingency dollars that the boost for really being successful. What happens with those dollars and how are districts thinking about that piece? Because that was a question I would get a lot is like what happens to those extra dollars that maybe we had put aside if they were successful. What do we do with those now?
Brittany Miller:
Yeah, I can start. And then Jasmine, feel free to jump in. Yes. We've done a lot of work on the financing side of this, too, because that's the first thing that we've heard from CFOs. If I don't spend my title dollars, they're just going to go back to the government.
So we actually have on our website, it's OVC dot southerneducation.org. We have a section that has a bunch of different tools in it. And under the resources section, there's one that's a federal funding faq. And it goes over what the allowability is for federal funding, like your entitlement funds that would typically be used for something like an outcomes based contract. Now that we're moving into a post Esser era. And what we found in doing some digging is that the language for federal stipulations doesn't actually say that you have to spend within that year. It can actually roll into the next year because all of our title dollars are actually on a three year spending timeframe. And so we go through the guidance for that and what that could look like in terms of being able to spend down those dollars in the future.
Another thing that we've seen our districts doing is thinking through how they can braid funds with some of their general funds as well. And then those general funds are more flexible to roll over year over year. So that's another area of consideration. Honestly, we've heard a lot of concern about this. And to date, we haven't seen anybody actually have an issue with figuring out how to spend down the dollars later. But it is a fear that folks have. And so we have done some due diligence to try to address that, but it hasn't become an issue today. And I think what we have heard more is that it's not just the cost savings of not giving the money to not paying the provider for the outcome.
The other cost saving that comes in is when the kid is actually successful, then they move out of the intervention. And so when you think about that at scale, then you don't have to continue to deliver the same level of intervention to students year over year because they're not actually moving.
So one of our districts in Colorado Springs, in one of the schools, half the students no longer qualified for the intervention at the mid-year point.And so in that case, like the principal was like, can I have spots for my, you know, third graders? No, because my fourth and fifth graders have matriculated out of the program. They don't qualify anymore.
What a wonderful problem to have. I'm sure we can figure out how to spend the dollars more effectively if that's the problem that we're trying to solve for.
Michael Horn:
Well, that, I mean, it's fascinating on a few levels because then you get to a more nuanced understanding of, you know, spending your resources on those who need it the most and being more strategic about that. But, Jasmine, last thoughts from you here.
Jasmine Walker:
So I was one, I had funds left over after my implementation, and what it actually empowered us to do was to expand our work with outcomes based contracting. So we launched a new contract for high impact tutoring the, the following school year, actually, this school year is running right now and using those dollars and added some more dollars to support our students. And we expanded the program actually to now cover 7th and 8th grade so we can kind of catch students a little bit earlier and support them so that we are ensuring that our students are getting that algebra readiness that they need for the future. But I wanted to add another note to that. Duval county actually is, has joined our cohort now for Ed Tech as well. So that work, not only did they continue to work with high impact tutoring, they're actually expanding into edtech as well. So, you know, the chief academic officer, she really saw the benefit of using outcomes based contracting as a lever with these dollars. Additionally, I just met with another district right before joining you for this ca
And something that, like, happened, we, they just, you know, took an assessment. Students just took an assessment so we can measure whether, you know, the outcome was achieved for this period of time. And they actually maxed out their outcome cap. And I was like, wow, what a celebration. You allocated, you know, this many funds to this particular outcome, and the students just exceeded, you know, what you expected. So, you know, that feels good to a district. Like, districts want to spend the money, but they want to spend it on the outcomes, like students actually achieving.
Michael Horn:
Well, we'll say amen to that. And just, Brittany, Jasmine, thank you so much for spearheading this work, not just in the districts you were serving, but now to a much larger cohort across the country and really appreciate the work you're doing.
How School Districts Can Pay Vendors Based on Student Outcomes