Real-Time Data Platform Enables Schools to Tie Spending Directly to Student Outcomes

OBC Data Dashboard, powered by Lumen, gives districts and providers live visibility into student progress, implementation quality, and performance-based payments

ATLANTA, May 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Outcomes Based Contracting (The Center) today announced the launch of the "OBC Data Dashboard," a first-of-its-kind digital platform designed to make outcomes based contracting operational and actionable in K–12 education.

Outcomes based contracting flips the traditional procurement model: districts pay for results, not just services. Under the Center's model, at least 40 percent of the overall payment to a product or service provider is contingent on meeting agreed-upon student outcomes. Until now, tracking the data while implementing these contracts has required fragmented systems, manual tracking, and delayed visibility into whether students are on track.

The OBC Data Dashboard addresses this by providing real-time, student-level visibility into service delivery, academic progress, and payment eligibility—automating the data collection, monitoring, and calculations required to manage outcomes based contracts.

"The promise of outcomes based contracting is simple: dollars should follow results," said Brittany Miller, the Center's executive director and chief innovation officer. "But that only works if districts and providers can actually see what's happening as it happens. This dashboard makes that possible. It reduces administrative burden and gives every stakeholder the information they need to intervene earlier and improve outcomes for students."

The dashboard is powered by Lumen, a data collection and visualization platform built by Littera Education. Built to operate independently from Littera's tutoring services, Lumen was selected as the Center's strategic technology partner through a rigorous, public RFP process and has been customized to align with the Center's Standards of Excellence.

"Outcomes based contracting has often been difficult to implement at scale, in part because the infrastructure to support it hasn't kept pace with the ambition of the model," said Justin Serrano, CEO of Littera Education. "Lumen was built by practitioners who experienced that challenge firsthand. This platform gives districts and providers the tools to implement these contracts with confidence and at scale."

Prior to the development of the dashboard, districts and providers often relied on manual processes—pulling data from multiple systems, maintaining complex spreadsheets, and compiling reports after the fact. This limited visibility into whether students were receiving services, meeting learning targets, or triggering payment milestones, while placing significant administrative burden on school staff. In some cases, districts dedicated significant staff time each week simply to compile and distribute this data.

The OBC Data Dashboard replaces that patchwork approach with a centralized, live data layer. Stakeholders, including districts, providers, states, and the Center, can monitor implementation and outcomes continuously, enabling real-time course correction rather than retrospective analysis.

Beyond individual contracts, the platform also generates anonymized, cross-implementation insights that enable the Center to refine its Standards of Excellence over time, while ensuring all student data remains private and district-controlled.

Early implementations are already demonstrating impact.

"The platform has been critical in helping us deliver on an outcomes based contract in Portsmouth," said Matthew McCorkle, superintendent of Portsmouth City Schools in Ohio, who has used Lumen to monitor the district's high-impact tutoring contract. "It gives our team real-time visibility into student attendance and tutor-student match, allowing us to make adjustments quickly and improve program delivery. As a result, more of our students are meeting their growth targets and outperforming their non-tutored peers, while we have full confidence that our investment is tied directly to measurable outcomes."

Select districts participating in a cohort with the Center will pilot the OBC Data Dashboard this fall, ahead of broader availability.

About the Center for Outcomes Based Contracting
The Center for Outcomes Based Contracting helps districts and providers implement outcomes based contracting with a focus on innovation, mutual accountability, and continuous improvement. By embedding measurable student outcomes into contracts, the OBC model ensures that districts can make strategic, data-driven decisions even amid resource constraints—keeping student learning at the forefront. Through direct support, research insights, public resources, technical assistance, and cohort-based learning, the Center equips districts and providers with the knowledge and tools to implement OBC effectively. Additionally, the Standards of Excellence for Outcomes Based Contracting™ establish clear benchmarks for outcomes based contracting across the K–12 landscape, balancing the need for robust support with accountability for maintaining high-quality contracts that drive meaningful outcomes for districts, educators, and students.

SOURCE The Center for Outcomes Based Contracting