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National Center for Learning Disabilities

Also Known As: NCLD

381 Park Ave S
Ste 1401
New York, NY 10016

LD.org; GetReadytoRead.org; RTINetwork.org; RecognitionandResponse.org

Mission and Programs

Mission

The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) works to ensure that the nation?s 15 million children, adolescents and adults with learning disabilities have every opportunity to succeed in school, work and life. NCLD provides essential information to parents, professionals and individuals with learning disabilities, promotes research and programs to foster effective learning, and advocates for policies to protect and strengthen educational rights and opportunities.

Programs

Educational Programs: NCLD delivers programs to improve instruction, assessment and support services for those who struggle to learn, especially for individuals with LD. NCLD?s newest program, the Response to Intervention Action Network, supports frontline educators in implementing a Response to Intervention (RTI) approach to identifying struggling learners early and providing them with interventions that they need to achieve academic success. NCLD?s Get Ready to Read! program screens children for pre-reading skills before they enter kindergarten and provides skill-strengthening activities to promote reading success. Essential Information: NCLD?s Web sites, online and print newsletters and interactive programs (Talks, Webinars and Online Forums) provide parents, educators, other advocates, and the media with comprehensive information. Resources include a resource locator for services by state; information on the legal rights of children, adolescents and adults with LD; fact sheets; resource lists; podcasts; an online screening tool and early literacy environment checklists; interactive games; and activity cards for early literacy skill building. Interactive resources include live chats, message boards, blogs, and online forums. Public Policy and Advocacy: NCLD mobilizes parents and other advocates to strengthen rights and opportunities for all individuals who struggle to learn with a focus on federal policies and laws such as the ADA, IDEA and the NCLB. NCLD publishes reports on the impact of policies on the lives of individuals with LD, convenes consensus-building roundtables and organizes briefings for key decision- and policy-makers. NCLD works in collaboration with the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) and the National Joint Committee for Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) Public policy and advocacy: NCLD mobilizes parents to strengthen rights and opportunities for all individuals who struggle to learn with a focus on federal policies and laws such as the landmark IDEA and the NCLB legislation.

Additional Comments from the Organization

1.) 15 million individuals in the U.S. have LD 2.) 2.7 million students in public schools have LD 3.) 44% of school-aged students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) have LD 4.) 80% of students with LD struggle in the area of reading 5.) 75% of children with learning difficulties who, if not identified and provided help by grade 3, will still have poor reading skills at the end of high school 6.) 21% of high school students with LD are reading 5 or more grade levels behind 7.) 36% of students with LD have been retained at grade level during their K-12 school career 8.) 51.7% of students removed, suspended or expelled from school have a learning disability 9.) 31.6% of students with LD drop out of high school versus 9.4% of students in the general population 10.) 57.4% of students with LD graduate from high school with a regular diploma versus 87.6% of students in the general population institution: 48%

Who We Are

The National Center for Learning Disabilties (NCLD) is a national nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with private and public sector partners to increase opportunities and improve outcomes for children and adults with learning disabilities (LD).

NTEE Code

Goals and Results

Accomplishments for Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2008

  1. Educational Programs: In partnership with national, regional and local organizations over the past 8 years, NCLD has trained 25,000 early childhood practitioners to deliver early literacy screening, and an estimated 400,000 children have been screened online and on the ground
  2. Essential Information: More than 60,000 parents, educators and advocates subscribe to our electronic newsletters. In fiscal year 2008, NCLD Web sites averaged 279,429 monthly page views and 73,417 monthly visitors, reaching a total of 881,006 visitors. In its first 3 months, the Response to Intervention (RTI) Action Network Web site, RTINetwork.org, received 46,889 unique visitors including 1,380 groups and individuals who viewed the first of three online forums.
  3. Public Policy and Advocacy: NCLD secured provisions in the Higher Education Act (signed into law 7/2008), made legislative recommendations on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and regulatory recommendations for that law and the Individuals with Disabilties Education Act (IDEA).

Objectives for Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2008

  1. Provide resources on quality implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) to more than 1 million educators and parents through the RTI Action network Websites (articles, podcast, online forum, blogs, etc.) and conference presentations.
  2. Provide resources and guidance on LD and children?s and families journey from signs of learning struggle to special education services to parents and educators. Our goal is to increase the quality and depth of our service to our constituents by focusing on user feedback, needs and customized content for our various constituent groups.
  3. Protect and strengthen the rights of students with LD under NCLB, IDEA and ADA, educate the new Administration and Congress and mobilize advocates to ensure students with LD are fully included in all laws that impact education, work and life.

Self Assessment

NCLD's Board of Directors evaluates the organization's effectiveness annually based on: (1) Effectiveness of programs and services in serving its priority audiences (2) Integrity of finance and accounting systems, including internal controls (3) Effectiveness and efficiency of development/fundraising operations (4) Assurance that funds have been used for the purposes specified by donors (5) Effectiveness of staff performance and capacity (6) Effectiveness of Board governance

Chief Executive Profile

James H. Wendorf is Executive Director of the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD). For the past 25 years, Mr. Wendorf has worked in the not-for-profit sector to build national and international partnerships supporting learning and literacy programs. Prior to joining NCLD in 1999, Mr. Wendorf served as Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), the nation's largest nonprofit children's literacy organization, based in Washington, DC. Mr. Wendorf currently serves on the Director?s Council of Public Representatives at the National Institutes of Health, as well as the advisory board of the National Center on Educational Outcomes, National Association for the Education of African American Children with Learning Disabilities, the Home School Institute, and previously with a variety of civic and education organizations. He is frequently called upon by the news media to comment on policies and programs affecting individuals with learning disabilities. Mr. Wendorf earned a B.A. degree from Yale College, and graduate degrees in English Language and Literature from the University of Cambridge and Cornell University.

Financial Data

Revenues and Expenses: Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2008

Revenue
Contributions $2,919,222
Government Grants $0
Program Services $0
Investments $74,884
Special Events ($108,408)
Sales $0
Other $0
Total Revenue $2,885,698
Expenses
Program Services $3,038,304
Administration $364,740
Other $331,835
Total Expenditures $3,734,879
Net Gain/Loss ($849,181)

Balance Sheet: Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2008

Note: The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot long survive, but the types of assets and liabilities also must be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.

  July 1, 2007 June 30, 2008 Change
Assets      
Cash & Equivalent $1,534,789 $1,426,183 ($108,606)
Accounts Receivable $2,313,427 $427,869 ($1,885,558)
Pledges & Grants Receivable $0 $0 $0
Receivables/Other $0 $0 $0
Inventories for Sale or Use $0 $0 $0
Investments/Securities $570,765 $1,244,697 $673,932
Investments/Other $0 $0 $0
Fixed Assets $120,286 $410,095 $289,809
Other $32,548 $46,261 $13,713
Total Assets $4,571,815 $3,555,105 ($1,016,710)
Liabilities      
Accounts Payable $651,270 $458,056 ($193,214)
Grants Payable $0 $0 $0
Deferred Revenue $0 $0 $0
Loans and Notes $0 $0 $0
Tax-Exempt Bond Liabilities $0 $0 $0
Other $30,000 $62,092 $32,092
Total Liabilities $681,270 $520,148 ($161,122)
Fund Balance $3,890,545 $3,034,957 ($855,588)

Basic Information