Emails to and from nora Chabazi (Part 2)

 

This is a continuation of my post yesterday. LINK

Is Nora Chabazi or the Right to Read team interested in reducing illiteracy?

Nora Chahbazi nora@ebli.com Dec 29, 2021, 2:25 AM

Hi Luqman,

I have forwarded your email to Nick and Katie, the story producer.

The documentary team has not decided what they think is keeping the literacy rate so abysmal in the US and other English-speaking countries. That is what they are looking to discover through their work on this documentary. There are still about 30 people on our list to yet be interviewed and we're not sure if funding and time will allow getting to them all. That is why the story producer has been very mindful when choosing people to interview. It looks as if what you say -teach children to decode and also vocab, fluency, and comprehension is along the lines of what many who have been interviewed are saying too.

I'll let you know when I hear back.

Thanks again for your email and the resources you shared.

With appreciation,

Nora

 

Note now:

I have stated why kids can’t read in English. Since 2010 I also stated that I disagreed with the theory that phonological awareness deficit was the cause of dyslexia until that theory was debunked around 2017. I know why many kids shut down/ disengage from learning to read and Nora is talking about the team not being decided on what is keeping the literacy rate so abysmal.

Did this woman read what I had written? I said that we should first address the question about decoding before talking about the rest. There is no point talking about comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency until kids can decode and blend letters.

The documentary did not mention the most important thing - teaching kids the correct pronunciation of letters.

I said, ‘If there are kids leaving school during both periods as functional illiterates - whole word and phonics periods - there must be some other common matter that is the cause of kids being unable to read.’

What is the common factor that is the cause of kids being unable to read? 

One of the producers is Kareem Jabbar Weaver whom I have been Tweeting numerous times on how to reduce illiteracy. He does not respond to any of the tweets he has no answers to. 

If Nora or Kareem Weaver or others in the team were serious about reducing illiteracy should they have discussed this matter with me? 

Nora Chahbazi nora@ebli.com Jan 3, 2022, 9:57 PM

Hi Luqman,

The story producer is looking for more insight from Balanced Literacy people. They are not going to be able to interview all those currently on the list, which is very heavy with phonics-focused experts. We greatly appreciate your willingness to participate and hope you will spread the word about the documentary. Here is a link to the website if you're interested in more information.

Thanks for all you do to promote literacy!

Best,

Nora

Note: Was my email about heavily focussing on phonics? It does not appear that these people want to reduce or eradicate illiteracy.