COBIDA offers scholarships to tutor STUDENTS in a Multisensory Structured Language Education (MSLE) approach to teaching reading including the Orton-Gillingham reading method. Applications must be post marked by April 1 and November 1, respectively, of each application period. Applicants will be notified by May 1 or December 1 of each application period as to whether or not they were selected.

Dear Parent:

The mission of the Scholarship Committee (Committee) is to provide financial assistance to dyslexic students receiving scientifically proven multisensory structured language education (MSLE). Twice a year, in the spring and in the fall, the Committee awards a five hundred dollar ($500) scholarship to a dyslexic student who is receiving or will receive private tutoring for reading, writing, and spelling.

• Between the ages of five (5) and eighteen (18) years old
• Diagnosed with a specific learning disability, language disability and/or dyslexia
• Receives or has made arrangements to receive tutoring in MSLE based therapy to improve reading, writing, and/or spelling

1. Fill out the parent portion of the enclosed COBIDA Scholarship Application.
2. Have the Tutor section of the COBIDA Scholarship Application filled out by the individual who is or will provide the instruction (The Tutor form of the application can be emailed separately.)
3. In order for the committee to know you better, please attach a short narrative which addresses the following questions:

• How has your family dealt with the issues concerning your child’s learning disability?
• What effect would receiving the COBIDA scholarship have on your family’s future?
• Feel free to include any other information about your child and/or family.

4. Copy your child’s testing (multi-factored evaluation team report or special education testing). If you do not have a copy of the testing, contact your school district’s special education office or the school psychologist and request a copy. Testing conducted by a private psychologist will also be accepted. Reports must include:

• Academic achievement test, such as the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery (WJ-R or WJ-III)
• Intelligence test, such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children III (WISC-III)

5. Send the completed application and copy of the testing to:
The COBIDA Scholarship Committee
PO Box 340426
Columbus, Ohio 43234

Applications will be received twice a year in April and November and must be postmarked by the first day of the month in which it is due. Applicants will be notified by May 1 or December 1, respectively, as to whether or not they are the recipient of a COBIDA Student Scholarship. Additional questions or concerns should be directed to scholarship@cobida.org.

The award will be given to the applicants that the committee feels will most benefit from the assistance, based on any of the following criteria: educational profile, psychological profile, appropriateness of selected intervention, applicant age, financial need and personal family commitment to remediation. Each student scholarship will be awarded in the form of direct payment to a service provider that has been trained and supervised in multisensory structured language education (MSLE) in accordance with the guidelines of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (AOGPE), the Academy of Language Therapy Association (ALTA), the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) or appropriate training in multisensory structured language strategies as determined by the scholarship committee. We look forward to reviewing your scholarship application.

Sincerely,
The COBIDA Scholarship Committee