One College, One Book/Common Read at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers

College - Concept Note

Overview
I propose that the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College develop and implement a Common Read program
in order to engage future educators in topics of racial justice in education and to encourage conversations
among students, throughout MLFTC and in our surrounding communities about how and why we need to
break down structural barriers which exist in the classroom, as well as how to identify and combat inequity
in education.

Background
● Common Reads1, a website developed by Penguin Random House, was created to support
Common Read programs across the nation and works to ensure that Common Read programs
run smoothly and successfully. According to their definition, Common Read programs exist to
promote literacy, create community, and encourage reflection.
○ The Common Read site provides resources designed to support “First-Year Reading,”
“Community Reads for Adults,” and “Community & School Reads for Children and Young
Adults”. The “First-Year Reading” program is tailored toward common reading at the
university/college first-year level.2
○ The site offers a collection of book recommendations for Common Read programs
organized into categorical themes, one of which is social justice. 3
○ The site compiled a list of colleges and universities who host Common Read programs
and their book choice for the 2019-2020 school year. 4
● Locally, ASU hosts a few different Common Read programs, owned and operated by individual
colleges. The following examples provide differing formats of Common Read programs; first is a
campus-wide engagement of first-year students among various colleges, the second a non-
mandatory, intrinsically motivated book club style community event in response to racial justice,
and the last is a Common Read embedded in a specific, first-year course curriculum therefore
ensuring that all students engage in the reading.
○ ASU West Campus Common Read5
■ The Common Read tradition on the West Campus has existed for 12 years as of
2020.
■ All first-year students attending ASU on the West Campus are asked to read a
book and develop a response to the text during the first part of the fall semester.
This program is designed to connect all first-year students and create
commonalities between them.
● *Note - MLFTC has already been invited to be involved in the Common
Read at the West Campus. Regardless of the status of participation in
that program, we should still consider a MLFTC-specific Common Read
for the reasons mentioned in this proposal.

1 http://commonreads.com/about-us/
2 http://commonreads.com/about-us/
3 http://commonreads.com/titlelist/first-year-reading-social-justice/
4 http://commonreads.com/2019/10/03/first-year-reading-2019-campus-roundup/
5 https://newcollege.asu.edu/common-read

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 ■ This year on the West Campus, students were asked to read Designing Your Life
by Dave Evans and Bill Burnett, which addresses the question on many college
freshman minds, “what do I want to be when I grow up?”
■ On November 19, 2020 students will attend a virtual event with co-author Bill
Burnett. Students enrolled in “101” courses will register for the event in class, and
all other students are directed to a link to register.
○ The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences “One College, One Book” Program 6
■ This recent initiative, driven by JEDI committee in The College, was launched in
response to the murder of George Floyd.
■ First-year staff, faculty, and students at The College were invited and
encouraged to read White Rage by Carol Anderson.
■ Anderson attended a virtual event hosted by The College in August, 2020.
■ Next year, they plan to read How to be an Antiracist and host author, Ibram X.
Kendi for a visit (or do virtual event).
○ ASU Writing Programs 2020-2021 Common Read7
■ ASU’s Writing Programs hosts a Common Read for first-year students enrolled in
“100 level” courses in the Department of English in The College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences.
● Professors of these courses are given the option to teach the Common
Read and are provided with specific training based on the topic of the
book and preparation resources if they choose to do so.
■ The goal of the Common Read program is to encourage first-year students to
write about pressing social problems that are relevant to ASU’s mission as a
public enterprise. According to the Department of English, by learning to write
about such problems as a community, we increase the probability of finding a
solution to them.
■ This year students were asked to read We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet
Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer.
■ Jonathan Safran Foer spoke to first-year students, faculty, and staff at a virtual
event on October 1, 2020.

Approach
● I propose Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College enacts a Common Read program, similar to those
mentioned above in which all first-year, “101” students read a book focused more specifically on
the systemic barriers which exist for students in education.
○ The Common Read program can be planned and implemented by the Champions of
Hope student organization, selected MLFTC staff, or as a collaborative effort between the
two. The following bullets represent an approach in which the Common Read is hosted
mostly by Champions of Hope with the approval of MLFTC staff, however, the
implementation process is adaptable to fit the needs and goals of MLFTC.
● The Champions of Hope student organization, housed in Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, can
establish a committee dedicated to choosing what book, specifically, students should engage with
as well as coordinating and planning the end-of-semester event in which a guest speaker
(possibly the author of the book) will participate.

6 Office of Applied Innovation Fellows Forum discussion with Dean Pardis Mahdavi of The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
7 https://english.asu.edu/news-events/events/asu-common-read-virtual-visit-jonathan-safran-foer?
utm_campaign=ASU_ASUNOW_ASU+Now+9-30-
20_2085730&utm_medium=email&utm_term=ASU&utm_content=Common+Read&ecd44=7201488_31847868

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 ○ The Committee will present suggestions to Dean Basile and staff of her
choosing/administration at MLFTC for feedback and conversation regarding a final
decision.
○ The book will change every Fall semester, shifting focus toward different aspects of
structural and systemic barriers for students in the classroom, essentially functioning in
tandem with the Champions of Hope mission statement.
■ “Champions of Hope seeks to empower future educators with the tools and
background necessary to serve students with underprivileged backgrounds who
therefore face structural factors affecting their learning. By engaging future
educators in the process of attending community trainings, guest speakers, and
real world examples that illustrate how diverse backgrounds create diverse
students, Champions of Hope takes fundamental responsibility for the economic,
social, cultural, and overall health of the communities it serves. Champions of
Hope seeks to maximize the potential of all students, improving the community
through its youngest members by arming future educators with the ability and the
willpower to begin recognizing diverse students' fundamental worth, listening to
their specific challenges, valuing their responses, and taking action.”
○ A drafted list of possible books to address racial justice in education can be found here.
Please note that this is a “living” document, and feel free to add any suggestions.
● Due to the adaptable nature of MLFTC’s first-year TEL 101 course, implementation of this
program might be housed in the TEL 101 course curriculum to ensure student participation in the
Common Read.
○ AmeriCorps peer mentors, who teach TEL 101 courses, can be trained to monitor and
encourage discussions during class time about the reading and to create a safe space for
students to converse about these possibly uncomfortable, yet necessary topics of racial
justice and other systemic barriers that exist and their relevance in K-12 classrooms.
○ We might also create a “Students Guide to the Common Read” that prepares students
and guides them through their reading so that they might be better able to identify key
terms, connect the reading to broader questions and establish points of debate and
conversation.
● At the end of the semester, all first-year MLFTC students can attend a webinar or virtual event
with the author of the chosen book planned and organized by the Champions of Hope Common
Read Committee.
○ If the author is unavailable to attend an event, another speaker can be determined by the
Champions of Hope Common Read committee and the webinar/virtual event will be
altered as necessary.
● Students might also be given the opportunity to collaborate across learning communities in
MLFTC with regards to the topics presented by the Common Read.
○ The Champions of Hope Common Read committee can collaborate with AmeriCorps
peer mentors on how to develop a project for students to complete and present at the
event at the end of the semester.

Stakeholders
● The Champions of Hope student organization has planned to establish an officer position of
“Organization Coordinator and Common Read Director” whose role will include overseeing
the Common Read’s implementation, upkeep, and expansion. This person, upon implementation
of the Common Read, will be in close communication with MLFTC administrators and other
stakeholders with regards to decisions made for and about the Common Read.

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 ● MLFTC first-year students engaging in the Common Read might be better equipped to address
systemic barriers for students in the classroom, but might also be better equipped to engage in
uncomfortable, yet necessary conversations about these important topics.
● This professional skill development might allow MLFTC professors to foster more meaningful
conversations and lessons throughout students’ other required courses such as TEL 102 -
Community Contexts which introduces equity literacy, educational policy and societal contexts,
etc.
● Program implementation might require training of AmeriCorps peer mentors, the teachers of the
TEL 101 course, over the summer before the Fall semester, so that they may foster productive
class discussions and navigate uncomfortable conversations. Successful training would first
require a collaboration between Champions of Hope and the administrative staff who oversee
the AmeriCorps peer mentorship program.

Impact
● A program such as this will enlighten first-year college students headed toward a career in
education of the importance and relevance of addressing social justice topics such as race in the
classroom.
○ The Common Read will allow students to be exposed to narratives and circumstances
they might not otherwise have been exposed to.
○ The Common Read might also function to broaden MLFTC students’ worldview as well
as their understanding of the education system and its impact on various student
populations.
● Success of the Common Read will directly correlate with an increase in participation of the
Champions of Hope student organization.
● A high amount of student engagement might function as a way to measure success of the
Common Read program.
○ To measure this, we might record and analyze data regarding the following:
■ Number of students reporting participation
■ Number of students attending event
■ Number of students actively engaging in event
● MLFTC might also collect data to receive feedback on the Common Read program.
○ This could be completed through a survey or evaluation of the program to study how
perceptions around racial justice in education evolve over the course of reading the book
and participating in discussions.
● Success might also include recognition at the university level.
○ Publication of ASU Now article that spotlights the Common Read and the event at the
end of the semester would demonstrate its success and university-level recognition.
○ To begin spreading awareness about the Common Read, we might include information
about the program in an MLFTC newsletter.
● Speaker engagement in events or conversations outside the larger Common Read event
specifically will demonstrate that the Common Read program has sparked interest in the
community outside of ASU specifically.
○ We might monitor speaker engagement with faculty, university/college leaders, smaller
student groups, etc.

Considerations
Potential Challenges

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 ● It might be the case that students and AmeriCorps peer mentors react negatively to potential
implementation of the Common Read program, and therefore might not want to actively
participate and fully engage. Proper introduction of the Common Read and training of AmeriCorps
peer mentors is crucial for success.
○ Successful incorporation of the Common Read into the TEL 101 course material would
require productive and consistent collaboration with AmeriCorps peer mentor supervisors
during the Spring 2021 semester in order to prepare for the training of these students
most likely to be done over the Summer.
● Implementation of the Common Read would present a need for administrative approval of various
ASU units.
○ If MLFTC would like to separate from the Common Read that exists at West, this would
require conversation with the Vice Provost of the West Campus.
○ At the Tempe Campus or in MLFTC in general, implementation of the Common Read
would require consistent collaboration and communication with the Dean’s office and/or
other administrators.
○ Maybe the Common Read could expand to MLFTC at other campuses, but I would like it
to start at the Tempe campus.
Resources
● Launching of a Common Read program will require funding.
○ The ASU West Campus Common Read claims they typically spend anywhere from
$15,000-$70,000 on a guest speaker. However, for the guest speaker they were able to
book for this semester, they were able to “talk the price down” to around $5,000 because
the speaker will be attending virtually.8
■ The Common Read hosted by ASU Writing Programs also paid a discounted
price of around $5,000 for their guest speaker due to the Director of Writing
Programs’ professional connection to a publishing company. 9
■ It should also be noted that given the current pandemic situation and the
movement of events to a remote/virtual setting, we may be able to reach authors
and/or guest speakers at a lower cost.
○ Funding might also be necessary to purchase the physical books for students. However,
if the Common Read becomes a part of the TEL 101 course curriculum, the chosen book
can be listed as a textbook, and it can be required of students to purchase a copy for
themselves.
■ It should also be noted that upon researching possible books that might serve to
educate future teachers about the topic of racial justice, a number of these are in
an e-book format at no cost through the ASU Library. Therefore, funding for
books for the Fall 2021 Common Read might not be necessary.
Length of Implementation
● Champions of Hope can plan to take the Spring 2021 semester to plan for a launching of the
Common Read program during the Fall 2021 semester.
○ During the Spring 2021 semester, the Common Read Director can be in charge of
communicating and introducing the program to all stakeholders including AmeriCorps
peer mentors and their supervisors to plan training sessions to occur over the summer.
○ The Spring 2021 semester might also be a time for the Fall 2021 Common Read book to
be selected and for the event towards the end of the Fall 2021 semester to be planned.

8 Interview with Carolyn Starr, Common Read Committee Head, ASU West Campus - 11/3/20
9 Interview with Dr. Kyle Jensen, Director of Writing Programs and Common Read director - 11/6/20

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Conclusion
Implementation of a Common Read in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University
will not only educate future teachers of the systemic barriers presented by the current U.S. education
system in which we will eventually teach, but will also allow students to reach a common understanding of
the need for change in order to best advocate and take fundamental responsibility for our future students.