Integrating Diplomacy and Social Media: A Report of the First Annual Aspen Institute Dialogue on Diplomacy and Technology

This report is a result of the first annual Aspen Institute Dialogue on Diplomacy and Technology, or what we call ADDTech. The concept for this Dialogue originated with longtime communications executive and Aspen Institute Trustee Marc Nathanson. Since his tenure as Chairman of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Nathanson has been concerned with how American diplomacy could more rapidly embrace the changing world of social media and other technologies. He is also a graduate of the University of Denver where former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's father, Josef Korbel, namesake of the Josef Korbel School of International Relations there, was his professor. Thus, Albright, another Institute Trustee, was a natural partner to create the first Dialogue on Diplomacy and Technology. The cast is ably supplemented with Korbel School Dean and former U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill and Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson, who himself was also recently the chair of the BBG.The topic for this inaugural dialogue is how the diplomatic realm could better utilize new communications technologies. The group focused particularly on social media, but needed to differentiate among the various diplomacies in play in the current world, viz., formal state diplomacy, public diplomacy, citizen diplomacy and business diplomacy. Each presents its own array of opportunities as well as problems. In this first Dialogue, much of the time necessarily had to be used to define our terms and learn how technologies are currently being used in each case. To help us in that endeavor, we focused on the Middle East. While the resulting recommendations are therefore rather modest, they set up the series of dialogues to come in the years ahead

State of Play 2016: Trends and Developments

Our first annual report on how well stakeholders are serving children and communities through youth sports offers grades, the latest data on participation rates, exclusive insights, and 50+ key developments in the past year in each of the areas of opportunity. The report also identifies next steps in building the movement to make sport accessible and affordable to all.

Investing, Improving, and Measuring Workplace Skills

Despite evidence that workplace literacy programs can be effective at improving the lives of workers and the bottom line of businesses, the lack of a dedicated funding source is likely to diminish the number and/or capacity of these programs significantly. Still, the growing skills gap facing the nation creates an ongoing imperative that the Congress and the federal government continue to fund strategies that are aimed specifically at upgrading the literacy and technical skills of the workforce. This paper describes some of the economic and demographic factors that impact program strategies; draws on recent research on promising programmatic and system strategies for concurrently addressing the needs of workers and businesses; and concludes with a set of recommendations for policymakers to consider that, if implemented, would support these strategies

Roadmap for Next-Generation Accountability Systems

Offers a framework for designing and implementing state accountability systems that enable consistent, aligned goals to ensure college- and career-readiness; valid measurement, support, and interventions; transparent reporting; and continuous improvement

Government Transparency: Six Strategies for More Open and Participatory Government

Offers strategies for realizing Knight's 2009 call for e-government and openness using Web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies, including public-private partnerships to develop applications, flexible procurement procedures, and better community broadband access

Advancing Stability in an Era of Change

Argues for an integrated grantmaking strategy for world security, stewardship, and the peaceful management of change. Focuses on the individual, the nation-state, civil society organizations, private sector corporations, and multilateral institutions

A System Approach to Building a World-Class Teaching Profession: The Role of Induction

Reviews research on teacher retention and quality. Argues for "comprehensive induction," including high-quality mentoring, common planning time for interaction with other teachers, intense professional development, and ongoing support from school leaders

Leadership for Transforming High Schools

Explores the unique tasks and challenges faced by education leaders in the face of stricter accountability reforms associated with the federal No Child Left Behind legislation and associated state-level education policy initiatives

A Survey of Selected National Organizations Providing Support to the Community Building Field

In recent years, community building has emerged as a powerful, comprehensive approach to neighborhood improvement. Increasing numbers of national and local organizations use community building to describe the ways in which they work to improve outcomes for children and families in low-wealth neighborhoods. As a local and national technical assistance provider and resource to the field, the Urban Strategies Council (the Council) set out to conduct a limited scan of the national organizations providing programs and services to support community building practitioners.In early 1999, the Council surveyed a dozen national organizations involved in community building support to identify the core strategies they employ to support practitioners and the development of the field. We also asked about the target populations for their supports and services. The twelve organizations were not selected through scientific sampling methods and are certainly not a representative sample; rather, they include organizations known to us and engaged in work that they identify as community building.This report presents the findings of the scan. The report begins with a brief review of community building definitions. It then presents a summary of the methodology used to conduct the scan. It continues with a review of our findings about strategies used by the responding organizations and the target populations that are the focus of their work. The report concludes with implications we draw from this limited scan and a discussion of possible next steps for the field along this line of inquiry

Strong Foundation, Evolving Challenges: A Case Study to Support Leadership Transition in the Boston Public Schools

Ten years ago, Thomas W. Payzant became superintendent of the Boston Public Schools and launched a reform program based on the idea that focusing on instruction, particularly in literacy and mathematics, would improve learning for all students. This case study examines the extent of instructional improvement a decade later and the complementary efforts that the district has made to improve the capacity of teachers, principals, and central office in support of continuously improving instruction. It also identifies some of the challenges now facing the Boston Public Schools. The purpose of the study is to inform the leadership transition that will occur as Payzant's superintendency comes to a close in June 2006. While the superintendent's departure is a landmark event in itself, it is likely to be accompanied by the departure of several key central office staff, and it coincides with the expected retirement of a greater-than-usual number of Boston teachers. Thus, the study is designed to inform not just a superintendent search, but a broader transition in leadership of the Boston Public Schools. Through its programs for urban superintendents, the Aspen Institute is acutely aware of how many city school systems will be experiencing transitions similar to the one in Boston. Aspen joined with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform to undertake the study. Aspen and Annenberg fielded a team of researchers to conduct the research and interviews on which the case is based. The research design was co-constructed by the Aspen- Annenberg team and a team from the Boston school district and its partners. The research was conducted from September through November. The process consisted of an extensive document review, a review of data on student outcomes, and interviews or focus groups with ninety-eight individuals -- students, educators, central office administrators, and community leaders. While this set of respondents is not a representative sample of the Boston community, it does typify a set of key roles within the district, its partners, and the community. The resulting interviews generated a remarkably consistent set of observations about what has been accomplished, what is under way that should be preserved, and what challenges Boston's next leadership team must address. A major purpose of this case study is to share these observations. The case has one additional, and crucial, purpose: to spark and support a conversation about how the city -- its educators, families, and communities -- searches for and identifies new leadership, engages that leadership in building on what has been accomplished, and formulates the remaining challenges that new leadership needs to address. This report is neither the final nor the only word on this important subject. Several local groups are also developing documents that will inform numerous discussions over leadership transition in the Boston schools. We hope that th