Children’s Dyslexia Center, Inc. p. 2
The NAME Children’s Dyslexia Center, Inc.
Grant Application to GRANTMAKER
DATE
Summary: The NAME Children’s Dyslexia Center requests a grant award of $AMOUNT toward much needed partial support of its core programs from START DATE through END DATE.
1. APPLICANT OVERVIEW
The NAME Children’s Dyslexia Center is the only resource in this area offering dyslexia remediation to children regardless of their ability to pay. It accomplishes this through an after-school program administered by professionals certified in the Orton-Gillingham (OG) treatment method. Many of these professionals are receiving their clinical certification for free by volunteering their services.
Both the Children’s Dyslexia Center’s free after-school tutoring program and its free tutor-training program qualify for support because:
§ The center meets a substantial local need, providing an unmet educational service and bringing improved quality of life to numerous children and their families.
§ The program's consistent, one-on-one tutoring relationship dramatically improves the prospects of academically at-risk students in local public schools.
Mission
The mission of the Children’s Dyslexia Center is to remediate dyslexia, a neurological disorder that makes it extremely difficult for children and adults to read, write and spell. The NAME center removes economic barriers by offering its service free of charge on a first-come basis regardless of economic, ethnic or religious background. A program of professional development for teachers and other college graduates who seek to be trained as dyslexia tutors is also provided free of charge.
History
The NAME Children’s Dyslexia Center belongs to a family of 501(c) 3 tutoring centers established in 1994 by the Scottish Rite Freemasons. These Centers were developed jointly by clinicians in collaboration with the Language Disorders Unit of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University. There are now more than 40 centers in 13 states. The NAME Children’s Dyslexia Center opened in YEAR. At present, NUMBER certified tutors and NUMBER tutors-in-training are working with NUMBER children.
Program Cost
All Learning Center overhead and maintenance expenses are underwritten by local Scottish Rite Masons and their National Benevolent Foundation.
At the same time, because the Learning Center delivers its services free of charge, operating costs must be supported by concerned donors and grantmaking organizations throughout the community.
2. CORE PROGRAM: FREE AFTER-SCHOOL TUTORING
Program Objectives
Whether measured in tax dollars or the waste of human potential, a learning disability such as dyslexia is a tragic loss to a community’s potential. Federal research indicates that dyslexia is associated with dysfunction in adult life as much as in the classroom. Poor self-esteem in many adults is aggravated by low educational achievement and poor employment prospects.
“Almost every week I see a learning disabled child who, undiagnosed or untreated, is venting his or her frustrations in anti-social ways,” said Jeffrey H. Gallet, a New York federal court judge who suffers from dyslexia himself. “I could have stood in that same spot. If not for loving, caring, involved parents, my frustrations at not being able to keep up in class, and to some extent in the play yard, could have burst forth in the same self-destructive way.”
Community Need
Remediation of dyslexia is a pressing need in this community, as it is everywhere. Although dyslexia affects at least 15% of the population, it is not systematically identified or adequately treated in the public school systems. Yet there is no reason for the social costs and consequences of untreated or poorly treated dyslexia to remain as high as they are. This disorder is well understood and is treatable through oneonone tutoring techniques such as those practiced at the Learning Center.
Benefits
Most students complete this program in two to three years, having closed or greatly narrowed the gap separating them from their non-dyslexic peers. The corresponding gain in self-esteem is critical to academic advancement and helps sustain positive relations with family and society.
Free Professional Certification
The Children’s Dyslexia Center offers free training for schoolteachers and other college graduates leading to initial certification as tutors in the Orton-Gillingham approach. Requirements for certification include 45 hours of classroom instruction and 100 hours of practicum work at the center, tutoring two children twice a week under the supervision of qualified professionals. The center also provides free training for advanced Orton-Gillingham certification. This program provides practicing educators with Continuing Education Units (CEU) credit from the colleges/universities affiliated with the Learning Centers.
3. PROGRAM DETAILS
Method
The Children’s Dyslexia Center successful treatment for dyslexia involves exclusive use of a multi-sensory educational program known as the Orton-Gillingham instructional approach. Students receive one-on-one tutoring twice a week after school. Each session is 50 minutes long.
Each child receives individual attention, generally with the same tutor throughout the program, which contributes to the success of the child. Thus, every child benefits from a continuity and focus that cannot be duplicated in a public school environment.
Schedule
The center is open 4 days a week for 28 weeks of the academic year (following the public school schedule) and 6 weeks in the summer.
Constituencies Served
Enrollment is open to all children in this community. The only requirement is a documented diagnosis of dyslexia. Children are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis regardless of race, ethnic or religious affiliation.
Staffing
This year, the center will employ NUMBER certified tutors (including the Director). In addition, NUMBER tutors-in-training will work under the certified tutors’ supervision. Administrative support accounts for the remainder of the center payroll.
4. SUCCESS FACTORS
Extending far beyond enrolled students, the Children’s Dyslexia Center program has a three-fold impact in the wider community:
§ Improved Skills, Performance and Family Functioning: "I wish you could meet these children when they first enter our center and then see them again after they've been there for just a few weeks. All aspects of their lives change for the better," says one volunteer supporter.
As a child recovers self-esteem and masters important skills, difficult relations with family and peers move toward resolution. A parent writes, "Before we found the
Children’s Dyslexia Center, the situation at home was bad enough to send the whole family to behavioral counseling. The center has given my children the skills they need to read and be successful in life."
§ Tutors' Ripple Effect: Many teachers certified as tutors go back to their schools and use their training to help their students advance in the public system. A recent survey conducted by researchers at Farleigh Dickenson University suggests that every Children’s Dyslexia Center tutor who is also a teaching professional has an annual impact on up to 15 children.
§ Public Awareness about Dyslexia: One of the center’s expressed goals is to increase public awareness of the nature and hidden social costs of dyslexia and the options available for treatment.
Value of Program
Demonstrably, the Children’s Dyslexia Center continues to meet a growing public-health need for area families. As the program has established a reputation for successful outcomes, more schools and families have learned of its free services and success rate. As a result, applications for enrollment have increased steadily. Today the center operates at capacity with a waiting list of children who are losing valuable time struggling against their disorder while they wait for an opening.
Evaluation
The Children’s Dyslexia Center conducts two types of evaluation: individual evaluations of each participating child and a program-wide evaluation of all participants, including children and tutors.
The center director’s annual progress report provides the results of pre-tutoring and post-tutoring tests for each child seen at the center. Tests used for this report include the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests - Revised (Forms G & H) and the Test of Written Spelling (TWS) 4th Edition.
5. COSTS AND FUNDING
A Cost-effective Charity
The tutoring program costs approximately $5,000 per child per year to administer. It is currently offered at no cost to the family, school system, government agency or insurance carrier as a matter of Children’s Dyslexia Center policy. By contrast, private tutoring can cost a family approximately $12,000 per year and may not adequately remediate dyslexia. This also does not address the needs of the child. Many public school systems spend up to $35,000 or more per year for each child in special education.
The Children’s Dyslexia Center’s annual approved operating budget is $TOTAL. (See the Detail Budget in this proposal.)
Fundraising Initiatives
This year the NAME Children’s Dyslexia Center faces unprecedented challenges as economic conditions have caused donors to reduce their funding support. Because the
Children’s Dyslexia Center is committed to delivering its services free of charge, operating costs must be supported by grantmaking organizations throughout the community.
As part of this support, the center relies on the generous support of foundations and corporations to help ensure the continuity of its work. A $AMOUNT grant from the NAME Foundation would enable the NAME center to continue its after-school dyslexia remediation.
The Board of Governors, parents of students and other concerned volunteers seek and secure donations from individuals and organizations through direct solicitation and events. Some examples of this support include annual and seasonal special events, notably an autumn Walk to Help Children with Dyslexia (more at www.dyslexiawalk.org). Other events have included benefit Runs and Rides as well as a Sponsor-a-Child appeal to individual donors.
In addition to support from grantmakers and donors, these community-building activities help to ensure that the Children’s Dyslexia Center’s important service is permanently available to children with dyslexia regardless of their families’ ability to pay.
Additional Funding Sources
Source Amount Date of Response
Individual Donations $AMT Month, Year
Event 1 $AMT Month, Year
Event 2 $AMT Month, Year
Foundation 1 $AMT Month, Year
Board of Governors $AMT Month, Year
ADDENDA
Children’s Dyslexia Center Profile / Board Members List
Children’s Dyslexia Center Annual Operating Budget
IRS 501(c)3 Tax Exemption Letter