The DREAM Project

Our communities are at a tipping point. Even though the majority of residents live in poverty, they are empowered by our work and the results are compelling. DREAM has been fortunate to put together a team of more than 80 educators, mostly from these same communities, alongside international specialists committed to creating a sustainable answer to Latin America's poorest performing education system. Literacy is the great equalizer. The missing piece is our partnership with The Elevate Prize. These resources, not just financial, but also in the form of professional support, would allow our existing programs to catapult into the entire country's public education system. Our mission is to empower communities through education, providing the resources they need to lift themselves out of poverty. This would accelerate the replicable programs we already have designed and operate. In particular, we would scale our literacy programs, through #DREAMenCASA and #TutorENCASA to our goal of 9,000 youth and their families right away. These impoverished, isolated families would be able to access our services, giving them a connection to the outside world, escaping the injustice isolation often creates, as social activity remains stunted by quarantines and the pandemic.

I am a teacher, an educator, and I am a member of these same communities. My career has taken me outside the classroom, but I live and breathe with the awareness that a great teacher, an amazing story, can inspire a child to be a lifelong learner. I am committed to providing that opportunity for as many children and youth as I possibly can. Learning, then teaching, has been my passion since I was a child. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, I joined the Peace Corps in Micronesia as a teacher and youth developer. My experiences there ignited a life-long passion for education. Through a Peace Corps Fellows Scholarship, I pursued a Masters in TESOL at Teacher’s College, Columbia University, and taught full-time in the South Bronx. After receiving my MBA from Columbia Business School in 2001, I became the Principal of School of the Future (SOF), a model school of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Since 2009, I have led the DREAM Project and focused on developing a culture of reading throughout the Dominican Republic. My ultimate goal is to get books into the hands of all Dominican children, regardless of their resources. 

Very few people are active readers in the DR. Our greatest strength and focus is the development of a culture of reading. DREAM’s approach to literacy is rooted in research-based best practices and includes direct instruction of phonics, decoding, reading comprehension, and critical-thinking skills through small-group instruction focused on early literacy intervention. We have developed long-standing relationships with local communities, building awareness of the challenges they face and establishing sustainable, strengths-based programs that meet their needs.

Dominican students have the lowest educational outcomes in the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) region. In UNESCO’s Regional Comparative and Explanatory studies, a curricular analysis of 19 countries in LAC, the DR has repeatedly scored at the bottom in reading and math (http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/FIELD/Santiago/pdf/Firts-Release-results-TERCE.pdf). Only a negligible amount of students are top performers in reading, and more than three-quarters scored as low achievers, placing the DR as the second to last in reading out of 70 countries (https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/PISA2018_CN_DOM.pdf).

DREAM’s multi-faceted approach creates an environment that fosters improved reading outcomes and educational attainment, equipping classrooms with new and culturally appropriate resources, inspiring storytelling and introducing teachers to innovative strategies and methodologies.

Our work is committed to literacy through sustainable, community-driven programs. In a country with virtually no libraries, our community libraries provide students and families access to books, magazines and library borrowing systems. Through LitClubs (https://www.litworld.org/litclub), children experience a joy for learning, express themselves creatively, connect with others in the community and grow academically, personally, socially, and emotionally. To date, 72% of the participants have remained active through online activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2014, My Very Own Library (MVOL) (https://myveryownlibrary.uchicago.edu/) has partnered with DREAM to carry out Scholastic books fairs that provide over 2,500 children with 10 books per year to build at-home libraries. The book fairs have professional authors, illustrators and promotors of literacy who engage the students in authentic reading activities. The DREAM-produced Mi Mundo magazine allows young journalists to gain authentic writing experience and engage with their history and culture. Through student book competitions, DREAM has developed six original books using Dominican themes. Students are led through a writing curriculum. Three DREAM books and three magazines have been purchased by Scholastic to offer in their bilingual libraries in the United States, and over 25,000 DREAM books have been distributed to public schools throughout the country.

DREAM’s dream is that all children and youth have equal opportunities to learn and realize their full potential, as we believe that learning changes lives. DREAM’s innovative approach effectively addresses local needs and can be successfully implemented and replicated throughout high-poverty global communities, measured by carefully designed logic models. DREAM’s core values are: 

• Inclusion: DREAM respects diversity and fights to overcome prejudices, promoting integration and coexistence. 
• Integrity: DREAM acts with respect, responsibility, honesty, and authenticity, supporting words with actions. 
• Opportunity: DREAM believes that everyone deserves an equal opportunity to learn and develop and creates the right conditions for them to thrive. 
• Quality: DREAM strives to continuously improve its programs, providing the best educators and a steadfast commitment to producing the best results. 
• Sustainability: DREAM develops programs that can be successfully implemented and replicated in other communities across the country, leaving behind the necessary tools for future generations to continue their development. 
• Transparency: DREAM aims to track every achievement and dollar spent on its programs and provide detailed reporting.

2020 results:

• 687 participants in 13 schools (communities) reached 
• 92% of students increased their reading level by 1.5 grade levels 
• Over 24,000 books distributed to over 2,500 students at book fairs