003 Literacy as Social Justice w/ Nora Chahbazi

Nora Chahbazi is on a mission to teach the world to read. Founder of EBLI (Evidence Based Literacy Instruction), Nora has trained thousands of teachers and tens of thousands of students in her center, in classrooms and online at all different grade and reading levels. Why, on a show about sustainability, are we talking about literacy? Only 35 to 40% of 4th graders are proficient in reading in the US, and over 30 million adults are reading at a 3rd grade level or below.85% of people in the legal system are struggling readers reading at a 3rd grade level or below. The cost of illiteracy and sub-literacy in the United States is $300 billion annually. Sub-literacy impacts people at all socioeconomic levels, and across all sorts of professions impacting doctors, lawyers, teachers, architects, engineers and more. How can this be? The alarming fact is that people studying to become teachers aren’t taught how to teach reading and today’s prevalent practices are actually detrimental . Nora’s EBLI system is revolutionary in that it works! In as little as 3 hours, with an average of 9, students of all ages can learn to read! Nora explains how it works and shares resources that can be used by anyone—from training programs to apps for phones and tablets. Nora’s mission is both inspired and inspiring and proof that one person, driven by a sense of mission and purpose can make a profound impact in the world.