Dan O'Rourke

Dan O’Rourke earned his BA and MA degrees in English Literature at Villanova University, and over the course of his 32-year career he has taught a wide variety of English courses at four very different high schools in and around his hometown, Chicago. He currently teaches the AP English Language & Composition class at Riverside Brookfield High School where he’s taught for the last 19 years. Dan has been a National Board Certified Teacher since 2010 and a consultant for College Board since 2016 and loves sharing ideas with and learning from his colleagues involved in education. This past year he has started working as an AP English Language Mentor for the College Board as well. Playing various roles (ie. Reader, Table Leader, and Question Leader) at the AP Reading since 2003 and participating on the College Board’s AP English Language Instructional Design Team (mapping out the new Course and Exam Description and online resources) has provided Dan with valuable insights into assessing and teaching student reading and writing. Dan’s academic work has been published by Bedford, Freeman and Worth in the Teacher’s Edition of The Language of Composition, 3rd Edition (2018). In addition, Dan presents regularly at state and national conferences and webinars–most recently Marco Learning’s November 2020 Pop-Up PD session, “Teaching for Transfer,” and the 2019 College Board National Forum in Washington, DC.