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.
Civil Society Advocacy in Uganda: Lessons Learned
Over several decades – and with increasing intensity in recent years – the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector in Uganda has participated in vigorous efforts to shape public policy. The emergence of such civil society advocacy in Uganda, as one commentator notes, refl ects the growing and welcome ability of civil society “to occupy space inadvertently ignored by government.” This study underscores the potential for charitable service delivery groups and rights-based organizations to bring their knowledge of real human needs to bear on the policies that constrain equitable access to services and fair treatment under law. Co-published with the Uganda National NGO Forum and featuring a thoughtful foreword by its director, Richard Ssewakiryanga, this study identifies cross-cutting issues and lessons learned from four case studies commissioned by the Forum. The campaigns studied span a range of issues, time frames, and levels of contribution to the desired policy impact. Discussion questions following this overview and each case study may inspire deeper refl ection on the role of civil society advocacy in Uganda and in other settings.
Implementing the Common Core State Standards: A Primer on "Close Reading of Text"
To assist teachers in understanding and employing the Common Core instructional emphasis on Close Reading in the classroom, this primer addresses the following key questions:
1) What is Close Reading of text, and what are its essential attributes? How, and for what purposes, should teachers employ this strategy?
2) What is the role of background knowledge in the development of reading comprehension, and when should teachers activate and/or provide background knowledge?
3) What should teachers and district leaders consider about Close Reading as they prepare to implement it in practice?
Freedom and Connectivity: Advancing the Freedom to Communicate in the Americas
This report addresses critical deficits in connectivity and the freedom to communicate in the Western Hemisphere. The report highlights connectivity, competition, censorship and protection of journalists as key areas for action and calls on government leaders to move communications issues to the top of national agendas and partner with other societal stakeholders to develop digital infrastructure, tools and human capacity. The report cites specific opportunities for action in Mexico, where a new government will be sworn in on December 1, 2012. It highlights the need for markets, regulatory and policy structures, and attitudes to "change to align with the new realities of a global digital age."
Libertad y Conectividad: Fomento a la libertad para comunicar en las Américas
Libertad y Conectividad: Fomento a la libertad para comunicar en las Américas se refiere a los déficits críticos en la conectividad y la libertad de comunicarse en el hemisferio occidental. El informe muestra la conectividad, la competencia, la censura y la protección de los periodistas como los temas claves para la acción y pide a los líderes del gobierno para trasladar los asuntos de comunicaciones a la cima de las agendas nacionales y asociarse con otros actores sociales para desarrollar la infraestructura digital, las herramientas y la capacidad humana. El informe cita oportunidades específicas para la acción en México, donde se realizará un nuevo gobierno el 1 de diciembre de 2012. Se destaca la necesidad de mercados, estructuras regulatorias y políticas, y las actitudes de "cambiar para alinearse con las nuevas realidades de la era digital y global." El lunes 08 de octubre se presentaron el informe y sus conclusiones a Aurelio Nuño, Coordinador de educación de la Transición Gubernamental del Presidente Electo de México, Enrique Peña Nieto, y una audiencia de invitados, en un evento especial en Ciudad de México. Descargar (español).
Tools for Teachers: Implementing Key Shifts in the Common Core State Standards
This extensive series of professional development modules provides open educational resources designed to meet the needs of educators making the key instructional shifts in ELA & Literacy for the Common Core. Each module-on text complexity, close reading and text-dependent questions, and designing close reading exemplars-comes with a Powerpoint presentation and facilitator's guide designed for professional development instructors, as well as a suite of supplemental exemplars, worksheets, and other supplemental resources.
Benchmarking the Performance of Business Development Services
This guide illustrates a step-by-step process that organizations providing business development services can use to generate benchmarking data related to these services on the microTracker site, and through consulting services with microTracker staff.
Leading the Pack, On Par, or Shaky? Benchmarking Loan Program Performance
This guide illustrates a step-by-step process that organizations engaged in microlending can use to generate benchmarking data related to lending on the microTracker site.
Building Higher Education Partnerships in the Maghreb
From June 2nd to 9th, 2012 the Partners for a New Beginning’s North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity Secretariat at the Aspen Institute (PNB-NAPEO) led a Higher Education delegation to the Maghreb composed of representatives from six American universities, two education NGOs, and the US Department of State. Coordinated locally by the US Embassy in Algeria, PNB-NAPEO Algeria, AMIDEAST Morocco, Injaz Al-Mahgrib and PNB-NAPEO Tunisia, the delegation met with local universities, NGOs, and business leaders in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia to discuss the delegation met with local universities, NGOs and business leaders in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia to discuss the assets and challenges within each country’s education system as well as priorities for reform. The primary objective of this delegation was to seed partnerships between the participating American institutions and local universities.
The delegation included representatives from Wayne State University, the University of Texas at Austin, MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Council on Foreign Relations, American University, AMIDEAST, Babson College, the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence program, Nova Southeastern University, Soliya, and the US Department of State.
