Publications
Aspen Institute Publications
Aspen Institute publications are listed below. Many are available for purchase through Google Checkout, a secure system for handling credit card transaction online. For assistance with ordering publications, please contact our Publications office by email or by phone at (410) 820.5433. Please note: Orders are shipped two times a week from our warehouse in Queenstown, MD, on the Eastern Shore.
Homeland Security and Intelligence: Next Steps in Evolving the Mission
Examines the role that the Department of Homeland Security can and should play in the intelligence community. This paper was released during a hearing before the Terrorism, HUMIT, Analysis, and Counterintelligence (THACI) Subcommittee of U.S. House of Representatives' Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). AHSG members who appeared as witnesses included former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff; former Deputy Director of FBI's National Security Branch and Deputy Director of CIA's Counterterrorist Center Philip Mudd; and former Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism Juan Zarate.
Homeland Security and Intelligence: Next Steps in Evolving the Mission
Examines the role that the Department of Homeland Security can and should play in the intelligence community. This paper was released during a hearing before the Terrorism, HUMINT, Analysis, and Counterintelligence (THACI) Subcommittee of U.S. House of Representatives' Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). AHSG members who appeared as witnesses included former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff; former Deputy Director of FBI's National Security Branch and Deputy Director of CIA's Counterterrorist Center Philip Mudd; and former Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism Juan Zarate.
Means to an End: A Guide to Developing Teacher Evaluation Systems that Support Growth and Development
Teacher evaluation has emerged as a key strategy for improving student outcomes in public education.
The rationale is compelling: teachers vary widely in their effectiveness, and evaluation systems need to identify and address this variation. In the last two years, most states have adopted new policies to make teacher evaluations more rigorous and meaningful, and the field is consumed with implementing these policies, moving quickly from design to pilot to full-scale implementation.
This guide is designed to help school systems and states design evaluation systems that support teacher growth and development. This focus is critically important because early work in leading districts suggests that the overwhelming majority of teachers fall in the middle range of the performance continuum. For these teachers, supporting improvement is critical.
Means to an End is a practical toolkit for structuring the design process, elevating important issues, and identifying tensions and trade-offs that need to be resolved. The guide was conceived at a 2011 Aspen Institute workshop that brought together leading educators, researchers, and policymakers to share strategies for designing and implementing new teacher evaluations. Examples from districts and charter networks at the vanguard of this new work are included throughout the guide.
The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
For millions of Americans, community colleges provide an essential pathway to well-paying jobs and continuing higher education. The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence honors those institutions that strive for and acheive exceptional levels of success for all students, while they are in college and after they graduate.
Building an Impact Economy in America
"Building an Impact Economy in America" provides a condensed summary of a June 2011 Summit on the impact economy convened by the White House and the Aspen Institute Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation's Impact Economy Initiative. The summit convened more than 150 leaders in the field -- investors, philanthropists, executives, and policymakers -- to discuss the emergence of the impact economy. The summit was devoted to understanding and articulating the key issues surrounding the field, and to considering its long-term scope and shape. The report includes an exposition of the themes and principles that surfaced, a synthesis of recommendations, and transcripts of select remarks.
Partners for a New Beginning 2011 Status Report
Full report is available for download here.
In September of 2010, Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) was formally launched at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting in New York, NY. As we come together one year later, we would like to assess our progress as well as chart our course forward to ensure that we continue to deliver meaningful results on the ground.
In the year since our launch, Partners for a New Beginning has achieved impressive outcomes. Thanks to the leadership of our esteemed Steering Committee, our partnership with the U.S. Department of State, the tireless support of the PNB Secretariat, and most importantly, our partners abroad, PNB has formed local chapters in Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, and Turkey, and has firm plans to launch chapters in Jordan and Mauritania by the end of 2011.
During the past year, Partners for a New Beginning has supported over 70 projects. These collaborations are forging new partnerships, empowering local leaders to address key priorities, and connecting visionary individuals and corporations with local counterparts. All of these efforts support PNB’s mission to promote economic opportunity, education, exchange, and science and technology.
As we witness events in the Middle East and North Africa, there is a sense of urgency to our work and an increased focus on bringing together the public and private sectors to create impactful results on the ground. The events of the past year have presented a critical opportunity to transform our relationships abroad, based on mutual interest and shared respect. During the next 12 months, it is essential that we solidify these relationships, increase the impact of our partnerships and continue to support and empower our locally driven projects. Having sowed the seeds for successful partnerships, this alliance now has the opportunity to cultivate these relationships and effect truly long-term change. For PNB, 2011-2012 will be a time of consolidation and continued sustainable results.
PNB has emerged as a viable model for partnership and diplomacy. For many, including ourselves, the possibility of a New Beginning no longer seems out of reach. The golden triangle of civil society, government and the private sector has proven an effective model. As we reflect on the past year and look to the year ahead, it is clear that there is much more to be done. Partners for a New Beginning is well-positioned to advance this work. We are incredibly proud to co-chair this initiative and confident that this Steering Committee will continue to drive a successful effort in the year to come.
Our sincere admiration,
Madeleine Albright, PNB Chair
Muhtar Kent, PNB Vice Chair
Walter Isaacson, PNB Vice Chair
Full report is available for download here.
Assessing Community Information Needs: A Practical Guide
Assessing Community Information Needs: A Practical Guide, written by Richard C. Harwood of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, is a guide for adopting civic innovation strategies to spur the development of news and information environments that address real community needs. It is the eighth in a series of white papers following up the recommendations of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, a project of the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program and the Knight Foundation. Learn more at www.knightcomm.org
