The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues.

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Displaying What We Do: Education

Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship

Building on the model of its well-regarded Henry Crown Fellowship Program, the Aspen Institute has partnered with NewSchools Venture Fund to launch this groundbreaking Entrepreneurial... Read More

Defining Excellence: Lessons from the 2013 Aspen Prize Finalists

Publication | March 20, 2013
College Excellence Program
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... Read More

The 2013 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence

Publication | March 20, 2013
College Excellence Program
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... Read More

2013 Aspen Prize Finalists

College Excellence Program
 Selected by a jury of former elected officials and other prominent national business, labor, education and civil rights leaders, the Co-Winners and two finalists with distinction were... Read More

2013 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence

College Excellence Program
 On March 19, 2013 the Aspen Institute announced the Co-Winners of the 2013 Aspen Prize, Santa Barbara City College (CA) and Walla Walla Community College (WA), and two finalists-... Read More

Building Teacher Evaluation Systems: Learning From Leading Efforts

Publication | March 22, 2011
Education and Society Program
Ambitious reforms across the country are reshaping teacher evaluation and performance management. Designing new systems for measuring teacher effectiveness and using that information to increase... Read More

Designing and Implementing Teacher Performance Management Systems: Pitfalls and Possibilities

Publication | April 11, 2011 | Ross Wiener, Ariel Jacobs
Education and Society Program
As new performance-management-related policies go from idea to implementation, policy makers and education leaders need to flesh-out what are still broad principles in many areas. This... Read More
Forging a New Partnership

Forging a New Partnership: The Story of Teacher Union and School District Collaboration in Pittsburgh

Publication | June 2, 2011 | Sean D. Hamill
Education and Society Program
Forging a New Partnership: The Story of Teacher Union and School District Collaboration in Pittsburgh documents Pittsburgh's transformation from a typical, adversarial district-union dynamic to one... Read More
Means to an End

Means to an End: A Guide to Developing Teacher Evaluation Systems that Support Growth and Development

Publication | January 6, 2012 | Rachel Curtis and Ross Wiener
Education and Society Program
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... Read More

Putting the Pieces in Place: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools' Teacher Evaluation System

Publication | March 30, 2012 | Rachel Curtis
Education and Society Program
The two top priorities in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools' Strategic Plan 2014 Teaching Our Way to the Top are: focusing on equitable instruction district-wide, and... Read More

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