Supporting teachers and students

English professor provides recommendations for supporting teachers and students

News contact: Laura Hancock, University Advancement, 541-962-3585

LA GRANDE, Ore. February 7, 2017 – Nancy Knowles, Ph.D., is the guest for the next colloquium at Eastern Oregon University, Thursday, Feb. 9.

Her presentation, “Four Years of Living Dangerously: The Eastern Promise Language Arts PLC 2012-16,” begins at 4 p.m. in Ackerman Hall, Room 210. Light refreshments will be provided and the event will be streamed at livestream.com/eou/colloquium.

Knowles is a professor of English and writing at EOU and former professional learning community (PLC) coordinator for Eastern Promise ­– a collaborative program of the InterMountain Education Service District, EOU, Blue Mountain and Treasure Valley community colleges and 45 school districts in the eastern Oregon.

Eastern Promise revolutionized the concept of concurrent enrollment for students in Oregon. During her talk, Knowles will review data collected over four years of the language arts PLC, delve into the hardships of asking supremely dedicated but officially underqualified high school teachers to offer college composition coursework, and provide recommendations for supporting teachers and students in future efforts.

Knowles completed her Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut and worked as an assistant in the Connecticut Writing Project before moving to La Grande in 2000 to join EOU’s English/writing faculty. She directed the Oregon Writing Project at EOU from 2003-2015.

A list of related resources on presentation topics is provided by Pierce Library and available at library.eou.edu/colloquium. EOU’s colloquium series is free and open to the public. For more information call 541-962-3316.