Four California School Districts Join Statewide Cohort Tying at Least 40% of Tutoring Pay to Student Outcomes
Four California school districts are joining a new statewide cohort that ties payment for tutoring directly to student results. The Center for Outcomes Based Contracting, in partnership with the California Department of Education's Expanded Learning Division, announced on October 22 that the Elk Grove, Inglewood, Visalia and San Jacinto unified school districts will design and implement outcomes-based contracts for high-dosage tutoring: instead of paying solely for delivery of services, districts will tie at least 40% of provider compensation to whether defined student outcomes are achieved.
The four districts span different parts of California: Elk Grove in Sacramento County, Inglewood in Los Angeles County, Visalia in Tulare County and San Jacinto in Riverside County. Launching this month, each district will form a leadership team of three to five people and run a tutoring program serving at least 400 students. Participating districts receive expert coaching, implementation tools and evaluation support at no cost, and take part in workshops, site visits and continuous improvement cycles.
The model builds on work already underway in California. Santa Ana Unified partnered with the Center in 2023 to redesign literacy supports for its most vulnerable students, tying 55% of provider payments to student outcomes. The program grew from a pilot of 42 students across two schools to 1,152 students across 27 schools the next year; 72% of students met at least one contracted outcome, attendance was 78%, and the tutor-student match rate reached 89%. Fresno Unified and Milpitas Unified have also been running outcomes-based contracting efforts.
"Early adopter districts in California have already shown what's possible when contracts are designed around student outcomes," said Brittany Miller, the Center's executive director. Outcomes-based contracting is a procurement approach that aligns districts and providers around shared student outcomes, so districts can make data-driven decisions even amid resource constraints.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加州Oak Park的Red Oak小学课堂上，学生在老师指导下学习（资料图）。美国联邦众议员Julia Brownley办公室发布，公共领域，经Wikimedia Commons。Photo: Students learning in a classroom at Red Oak Elementary School in Oak Park, California (file photo). Office of U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
