Nancy Drescher

After graduating with a BA in English and Education from the University of Northern Colorado, Drescher started her career as a teacher in 1991. She substitute taught for a short time in Athens, Georgia until she left the country for a Peace Corps assignment in the Kingdom of Tonga (South Pacific). For the first two years, she taught half time at a high school and half time for the Ministry of Education where she helped implement a bilingual curriculum in the elementary schools. In her third year, she moved to a different island within Tonga and worked full time for the Ministry of Education where she also taught for the Teacher’s Training College and continued to help implement the new curriculum.

In 1995, she returned to Colorado and taught K-12 EL in addition to coordinating the EL program for a school district. While doing that, she also earned her MA in ESL from Regis University and worked in a family education program - where she taught adult basic education as well as children 3-8 years old and parenting classes and was the literacy volunteer coordinator for the program. After several years, Drescher returned to school at Northern Arizona University, where she earned a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics. During that time, she taught freshman composition, worked as a writing tutor, taught in an intensive English program (IEP), and mentored other teachers who were teaching in the IEP.

Drescher is currently in her 16th year of teaching at MSU, Mankato. As a professor at MSU, Mankato, Drescher has produced 31 articles and presentations as well as co-editing a book with Tangikina Moimoi Steen (2011) Tonga: Land, Sea, and People. She is currently working on research that examines how pre-service teachers reflect on their teaching and develop professional identities. She continues to work closely with K-12 EL teachers and substitute teach in the K-12 system. Recently she has also enjoyed coaching middle school girls’ tennis and teaching literacy in the Boys and Girls Club as well as facilitating Promoting Respect Workshops for the Greater Mankato Diversity Council.