Letter from the Executive Director: Rewriting the Future

For a child with dyslexia, the world can often feel like a puzzle with missing pieces. At the Dyslexia Tutoring Program (DTP), our job is to provide those pieces. For years, we shared our success through traditional annual summaries, but this year, we realized that the journey of a student—the moment a letter finally stays still on a page or a sentence finally makes sense—happens in real-time.

This past year marked a strategic transition for DTP. We have moved toward year-round impact communication, ensuring that our donors, families, and partners see the pulse of our progress as it happens. Dyslexia doesn’t take a day off, and neither do we. By sharing our stories and data consistently throughout the year, we are highlighting the daily perseverance of our tutors and the incredible resilience of our students. Our organizational growth has kept pace with our students’ achievements. We have intentionally expanded our Board of Directors to deepen our clinical and strategic expertise. I am particularly proud to welcome leaders like Dr. Worthington to the board, and Josaiah Bonwell as our Outcomes & Impact Coordinator. Both their specialized background and lived experience ensures that DTP remains a leader in evidence-based literacy intervention.

As you read this report, you aren’t just seeing numbers. You are seeing the “North Star” of our mission: the moment a student realizes that their dyslexia is not a barrier to their intelligence, but simply a different way of processing the world. Thank you for providing the resources that make these breakthroughs possible.

With gratitude,

Dalbin Osorio
he/him/his
Executive Director
Dyslexia Tutoring Program

In 2025, we made a deliberate shift. Guided by our belief that literacy is the foundation of economic mobility, personal freedom, and social capital, we stopped asking how many individual students we could reach—and started asking how we could change the conditions that keep so many from ever catching up. Instead of changing communities one reader at a time, we set out to change communities for all readers, every day. Your partnership made that shift possible.

And this is how we’re translating that belief into our mission, our strategy, and our programs.

What We Did
On a $700,000 budget, DTP delivered more than 7,000 hours of life-changing support—one-to-one tutoring, professional assessments, Structured Literacy training, and specialized summer learning—to 233 students across 11 counties and 144 schools. More than half of the public schools we served were Title I. At market rates, these services exceed $600,000 in value. In real terms, they mean children reading with confidence, families seeing possibility, and futures opening that once felt closed. At the same time, we invested in technology, staffing, and systems so DTP could grow with intention—becoming a scalable, data-driven force for literacy equity.

How We Grew
We didn’t just do more—we built smarter. We expanded our training capacity by 200%, adding six new literacy instructors. We launched a groundbreaking partnership with Morgan State University (MSU) and the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED)—creating a pipeline of educators trained in Structured Literacy who reflect the communities they serve. We also introduced a bold new model: training public-school teachers to deliver Structured Literacy intervention on site. By eliminating transportation barriers and embedding expertise directly in schools, we are transforming schools into permanent hubs of support and multiplying our impact far beyond what tutoring alone can achieve. And we’ve laid the groundwork for tiered service delivery, adding small group tutoring (1:3) for students with milder learning differences to our current 1:1 tutoring, which combined with our high dosage program at MSU/NCEED (90 minutes 2x/week) allows us to deepen impact while increasing numbers served.

How Students—and Communities—Benefit
Students made rapid early gains in decoding, fluency, and comprehension, and when we identified a learning plateau, we acted immediately—strengthening assessment, introducing progress monitoring, and improving tutor support to ensure no child stalls out. But it goes beyond academic achievement. As one of our donors pointed out, “Students learn their self worth when they obtain the ability to read.” We saw them thrive in summer programs through our partnerships with the Jemicy and Odyssey Schools that pair rigorous academics with creativity and confidence-building. Our Be Well program is being redesigned so families will receive more accessible, responsive support. We proudly celebrated our first Ellen P. Wasserman Scholarship student, now flourishing in his second year at Jemicy. And because dyslexia doesn’t end at graduation, we are now building college and workforce readiness pathways so literacy gains translate into lifelong independence, personal fulfillment, and professional success.

Looking ahead to 2026
To echo a comment from one of our donors, investing in DTP is “investing in the future of our society.” To do that, we need to make systemic change so everyone in our society has the opportunity learn, grow, and excel.
So DTP is moving beyond an exclusively direct-service model to disrupt inequity at its source. Our mandate is clear: shift from serving hundreds of students to transforming whole systems—so that literacy, opportunity, and economic mobility are no longer exceptions, but expectations. And with committed partners like you, that future is within reach.

2025 was a year of profound accomplishment. Our immense gratitude extends to our rapidly growing network of over 60 dedicated tutors—a remarkable collective ranging from retired doctors to former teachers—all of whom passionately invest in our students. This year alone, we have further strengthened this commitment by training and welcoming an additional 22 highly-skilled tutors to our program in 2025.Their unique perspectives and professional wisdom have empowered our students to make extraordinary academic leaps, proving that our community’s shared experience is our greatest asset.

• The “Tutor Spotlight”: A story from the “Literacy Heroes” series.
  Removing Barriers to Success
  Logistics should never stand in the way of literacy. Recently, one of our students faced a common challenge: a change in her parents’ work schedule meant she could no longer make it to our office for tutoring. Recognizing the importance of consistency, her tutor—a school teacher by trade—offered to meet her at her after-school program instead.
  Despite the extra administrative burden of a state background check, the tutor took total ownership of the process, researching the requirements independently to ensure the student didn’t miss a single beat, before our office could even offer assistance. By meeting the student exactly where she was, this tutor proved that our volunteers are more than just educators; they are champions for their students’ success.

Professional Development & Specialized Training
Tutor Workshops are vital to our mission, providing the essential professional development and specialized training hours our volunteers need to excel. This year, we hosted several high-impact, well-attended sessions, including Building Confidence & Rapport with Students, Deepening the Home-School-Tutor Connection, and our most popular workshop, Gamify—which explores integrating multi-sensory games into tutoring. DTP also successfully introduced a new end-of-summer series in August 2025, offering weekly evening and weekend workshops to ensure our tutors were fully prepared for the upcoming academic year.

When Shonta Wade enrolled her son, Logan, in DTP, she hoped he would receive the support he needed to grow and succeed. Since joining the program, Logan’s progress has been both clear and inspiring. His school recently shared that he has made strong gains in reading, showing the impact of consistent, individualized instruction and encouragement.

Logan’s growth can also be seen in how he now supports others. Teachers have noticed him helping classmates who struggle with reading, a sign of both improved skills and growing confidence. At home, the changes have been just as meaningful. One weekend, Logan picked up a book on his own and read aloud to his nieces. His mother shared that this was something she had never seen him do before. Moments like this have filled their family with pride and hope.

Shonta credits much of Logan’s success to his tutor, Barbara, whose dedication has made a lasting difference. She shared, “His confidence has grown so much. Thank you for helping my child and supporting him in ways that are truly making a difference. We appreciate you more than you know.” Logan’s story shows what can happen when students receive patient, compassionate literacy support that meets them where they are.

This same growth can be seen in students like Gus Langley and Abdullah Thomas. Through their work with DTP, both students developed the confidence and skills to step into leadership roles as DTP ambassadors. During Greenspring Academy’s Math Around the World Night, Gus and Abdullah helped younger students solve cipher puzzles and encouraged them to keep trying when challenges felt difficult. Their participation reflected more than academic progress. It showed confidence, teamwork, and a willingness to give back to their community.

Stories such as Logan’s, Gus’s, and Abdullah’s demonstrate the broader work of DTP. When students get the right support, their skills extend beyond the classroom. They grow into confident learners and contribute to our community. With the support of donors, we can continue to create these opportunities, keep tutoring free.

Summer Camp Impact: Highlights from the GES and Odyssey camps and the new workforce development initiatives.

Expanding access to meaningful summer learning opportunities has become an important part of DTP’s commitment to supporting students beyond the school year. This summer, DTP is proud to partner with both Camp Odyssey and Camp Jemicy to ensure more students can continue building skills, confidence, and community during the months when learning loss often occurs.

Through this collaboration, five students ages 7 to 10 will attend Camp Odyssey, completely free of charge, in a program known for its structured literacy approach and supportive learning environment. For many of these younger students, this experience represents an important opportunity to strengthen foundational reading skills, while also building independence and confidence in a setting designed to help them succeed.

At the same time, eighteen students ages 11 to 14 will attend Camp Jemicy, providing our middle school aged students with a space where academic growth, social connection, and self-advocacy come together. Students are encouraged to build on the progress they have made during the school year while forming relationships with peers who share similar learning experiences. For many students, this experience also serves as an early introduction to workforce readiness. Through guided self-advocacy, collaborative problem-solving, and opportunities to practice communicating their learning needs, students begin developing the confidence and professional skills that will support them in high school, college, and future careers.

This expansion represents meaningful growth for the program. Just one year ago, DTP partnered with Camp Jemicy and was able to send seven students. Thanks to the support of donors and community partners, the program has more than doubled its reach in a single year.

Community Footprint

Over the past year, DTP has made a deliberate investment in strengthening its presence across the community. Our goal has been simple. Meet families where they are, build trusted partnerships, and make literacy support more visible and accessible to the students who need it most. As a result, our community footprint has grown significantly, and the number of applications we’ve received has nearly doubled.

In the past six months alone, DTP has participated in more than 25 community events. From January 2025 through February 2026, our team attended nearly 50 events across Baltimore. These gatherings created opportunities to connect directly with families, educators, and community leaders while sharing resources and building awareness about literacy support. Summer outreach played an especially important role. Our team participated in the Mayor’s Back to School event and the Associated Black Charities Cookout, helping families prepare for the school year while learning about available academic supports.

Our outreach efforts have also expanded through media and digital engagement. A partnership with Radio One helped introduce DTP to new audiences across Baltimore City and Baltimore County. At the same time, a revitalized Instagram presence allowed us to share student stories, program updates, and resources in ways that reached families more quickly and consistently. Executive Director Dalbin Osorio further amplified this work by appearing on several podcasts, where he spoke about literacy equity, community-based solutions, and the importance of early intervention.

Partnerships have been critical to this growth in the program. DTP strengthened its collaboration with the Y of Central Maryland to expand access to families already connected to trusted community spaces by hosting us at events and hosting tutoring courses to be held in their facilities. Through this partnership, DTP was able to connect with dozens of families who had not previously accessed literacy screening or tutoring services.

Looking ahead, in 2026 we will launch a pilot program with Bodkin Elementary School to bring literacy support directly into a school setting, creating a model that can be expanded in the future. At Morgan State University, DTP began a partnership, creating a pathway for college students to serve as trained literacy tutors while building professional experience.

At the same time, DTP has continued building bridges with organizations that share our commitment to student success. Partnerships with the Maryland Book Bank have given us books to distribute at community events, and to provide to DTP scholars who want to further develop their reading skills outside of tutoring sessions.

These efforts reflect more than growth in numbers. They represent a stronger, more connected network of education partners working toward a shared goal. By showing up consistently, listening to the community’s needs, and investing in relationships, DTP continues to expand its impact and ensure that more students and families know where to turn for support.

A Data-Driven Approach to Student Success
At DTP, we are committed to programming that delivers measurable, meaningful results. To understand each student’s learning profile and track progress over time, every applicant is assessed at intake using nationally normed, standardized measures to establish a baseline of cognitive and academic skills. These data guide eligibility decisions and enable us to monitor each student’s progress toward age- and grade-level reading proficiency.
Student growth in key literacy areas—including decoding, fluency, and comprehension—is assessed after every 30 hours of tutoring. Annually, an independent evaluator conducts statistical analyses of aggregated student outcomes to validate program effectiveness and ensure accountability.

Key Findings and Strategic Adjustments
As in prior years, the 2025 independent evaluation confirmed the immediate impact of DTP’s intervention. Students demonstrated statistically significant gains in decoding and spelling after just 30 hours of tutoring. For learners who often enter the program with below-basic skills—struggling to read simple text, write basic words, or comprehend sentences—this early progress represents a critical foundation for long-term literacy development. By the 60-hour mark, the percentage of students reading at or above the 25th percentile for their age more than doubled compared to baseline.
At the same time, this year’s evaluation revealed an important opportunity for improvement: aggregate gains between the 30- and 60-hour intervals were flatter than in previous years. In response, DTP strengthened its assessment and progress-monitoring systems to ensure instruction remains highly responsive to individual student needs. We introduced more frequent, real-time progress monitoring tools, enhanced tutor feedback loops, and implemented quarterly skills assessments to prevent learning plateaus and support continuous growth. Standardized, norm-referenced assessments will continue to be administered annually to measure long-term outcomes.

Funding the Future of Our Students
None of this impact—measurable skill gains, highly trained volunteers, transformative summer learning experiences, or expanded reach—is possible without the generosity of our donors.
In 2025, DTP submitted more than $8 million in grant proposals, with a strategic focus on diversifying revenue and securing new funding partners. We secured over $589,000 from retained donors, representing 76% of anticipated revenue, allowing us not only to sustain core services but also to plan for strategic growth. Looking ahead, we have more than $521,000 in pending grant requests for 2026 from both returning and new funders.

Notable proposals include the New Profit Build Grant, a $1.5 million multi-year opportunity providing unrestricted capital alongside strategic advising and access to a national network of social impact leaders, and the Education Design Lab partnership with Walmart, which would support the development of DTP’s STAR Specialist Lab. This $400,000 initiative would create professional, non-degree pathways into the literacy workforce for individuals skilled through alternative routes who are often excluded from traditional credential-based opportunities.
With stronger systems, deeper partnerships, and more diversified funding, DTP enters 2026 positioned for even greater impact—ensuring that more learners gain the literacy skills that unlock lifelong opportunity.