Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

On 13.9.18 I wrote to ACER on FaceBook the following. I wrote to them as their name indicates that they are Educational Researchers.

Reduce illiteracy 

Would any researcher here like to discuss why kids who fail to read in English are able to read in many other languages? I have taught more than 50 kids, many of whom were wrongly certified as dyslexic. I have found that all my students are in fact instructional casualties. Let us please discuss.

 The following is the response from ACER.

Thanks for contacting ACER. Your message will be forwarded to the relevant department during the business hours of our head office in Melbourne, Australia. You can also contact ACER by visiting https://www.acer.edu.au/about-us/contact-us

I did not receive any response after the initial message above.

I also wrote to Brisbane Australian Literacy Educators' Association and their response was as follows.

Meanjin - Brisbane Australian Literacy Educators’ Association

Thanks for contacting ACER. Your message will be forwarded to the relevant department during the business hours of our head office in Melbourne, Australia. You can also contact ACER by visiting https://www.acer.edu.au/about-us/contact-us

Here is another message from ACER.

HI Michel - we don't host discussions on our FB page. It's a forum for sharing the results of our research and it's run by the corporate communications team, rather than by the researchers who work at ACER (and who you want to engage with). Additionally, I'm not aware of a specific piece of research undertaken by ACER in this area. However, I'm sure there are many other online fora (perhaps on LinkedIn?) where discussions of this kind take place. Thanks for contacting ACER. Regards - Corporate Communications

If there is no specific piece of research undertaken by ACER under this area then I would have thought they should at least discuss with me on what my findings are. Instead, they push me to LinkedIn where I have been writing for many years.

With the above kind of attitude by many Australian establishments including Australian Ministers, how do we expect illiteracy rate to reduce in Australia?

As far as literacy is concerned, I understand that Australia is the worst of all Anglo countries -  The Americas, New Zealand, South Africa as well as The UK.

A good friend told me that I am going to fight an uphill struggle and I believe he is right but I shall continue with my quest. It took me 5 years to convince the world that phonological awareness deficit is not the cause of kids being unable to read. This struggle may take a little longer.