Despite numerous efforts to bring about a clear and unbiased definition of CSR, there is still some confusion as to how CSR should be defined. In this paper five dimensions of CSR are developed through a content analysis of existing CSR definitions. Frequency counts are used to analyse how often these dimensions are invoked. The analysis shows that the existing definitions are to a large degree congruent. Thus it is concluded that the confusion is not so much about how CSR is defined, as about how CSR is socially constructed in a specific context. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/csr.132

How corporate social responsibility is defined: an analysis of 37 definitions

Using data from a 50-state survey of policies, state case study analyses, the 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), this study examines the ways in which teacher qualifications and other school inputs are related to student achievement across states. The findings of both the qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that policy investments in the quality of teachers may be related to improvements in student performance. Quantitative analyses indicate that measures of teacher preparation and certification are by far the strongest correlates of student achievement in reading and mathematics, both before and after controlling for student poverty and language status. State policy surveys and case study data are used to evaluate policies that influence the overall level of teacher qualifications within and across states. This analysis suggests that policies adopted by states regarding teacher education, licensing, hiring, and professional development may make an important difference in the qualifications and capacities that teachers bring to their work. The implications for state efforts to enhance quality and equity in public education are discussed. (Note 1)

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Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: A Review of State Policy Evidence

The circular economy concept has gained momentum both among scholars and practitioners. However, critics claim that it means many different things to different people. This paper provides further evidence for these critics. The aim of this paper is to create transparency regarding the current understandings of the circular economy concept. For this purpose, we have gathered 114 circular economy definitions which were coded on 17 dimensions. Our findings indicate that the circular economy is most frequently depicted as a combination of reduce, reuse and recycle activities, whereas it is oftentimes not highlighted that CE necessitates a systemic shift. We further find that the definitions show few explicit linkages of the circular economy concept to sustainable development. The main aim of the circular economy is considered to be economic prosperity, followed by environmental quality; its impact on social equity and future generations is barely mentioned. Furthermore, neither business models nor consumers are frequently outlined as enablers of the circular economy. We critically discuss the various circular economy conceptualizations throughout this paper. Overall, we hope to contribute via this study towards the coherence of the circular economy concept; we presume that significantly varying circular economy definitions may eventually result in the collapse of the concept.

Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions

/pdf/an-overview-of-content-analysis-53zvb3be0k.pdf

An Overview of Content Analysis.

Using data from a 50-state survey of policies, state case study analyses, the 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), this study examines the ways in which teacher qualifications and other school inputs are related to student achievement across states. The findings of both the qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that policy investments in the quality of teachers may be related to improvements in student performance. Quantitative analyses indicate that measures of teacher preparation and certification are by far the strongest correlates of student achievement in reading and mathematics, both before and after controlling for student poverty and language status. State policy surveys and case study data are used to evaluate policies that influence the overall level of teacher qualifications within and across states. This analysis suggests that policies adopted by states regarding teacher education, licensing, hiring, and professional development may make an important difference in the qualifications and capacities that teachers bring to their work. The

Charms Talismanic: Testing Teachers for the Improvement of American Education

Searching for Alternatives to Standardized Tests: Whys, Whats, and Whithers.

Validity, vaudeville, and values: A short history of social concerns over standardized testing.

In the United States in recent years, much worry and writing have been occasioned by the apparent lack of influence of social science research on practical affairs, including affairs of schooling. In 1979, for example, Lindblom and Cohen wrote, "In public policy making, many suppliers and users of social research are dissatisfied, the former because they are not much listened to, the latter because they do not hear much they want to listen to" (p. 1). Whatever the merits of the general proposition that social science research has exerted little influence on practical affairs-and in particular, the practice of education-there is one very clear exception to this notion. It is the influence that research on testing has exerted on education. This influence will be traced in detail later in this paper, but for the moment, only two works need to be cited. Twice in the last two decades, the National Academy of Education has set out to explore the relationship between research and education, and how the latter might benefit from the former. These efforts resulted in books to which diverse groups of eminent scholars contributed. Each volume gave extended examples of how research has influenced educational practice. The first example in each volume? In Research for Tomorrow's Schools (Cronbach & Suppes, 1969), it was "Mental Tests and Pupil Classification." In Impact of Research on Education (Suppes, 1978), it was "On the Theory-Practice Interface in the Measurement of Intellectual Abilities" by John Carroll. If theory and research concerning standardized testing have influenced educational practice, it is worth tracing the relationship for several reasons. First, it illustrates the variety of ways in which educational research may influence educational practice. Second, it indicates something of future possibilities and limits for research concerning testing to improve teaching and learning. Third, it suggests a point that "suppliers... of social research... not much listened to" may too easily forget-namely that not all influence is useful or of the stuff to which we ought aspire. Thus the purpose of this paper is to recount the history of research and reasoning about mental testing and its role in educational practice. The history of this relationship is here divided into three broad parts. The first concerns the roots of mental testing up until approximately World War I (WWI). The second, lasting from WWI until 1950, deals with the refinement of testing techniques and institutionalization of testing in educational practice. The third, lasting from about 1950 through the 1970s, was a time when education emerged prominently on the national agenda, and the role of testing in the agenda became markedly more mixed. Tests were seen variously as indicators of educational problems, as solutions to some of those same problems, and as sources of other troubles. The last part of this paper, after summarizing what the relationship between research concerning testing and educational practice has been in the past, suggests research regarding testing that might constructively influence educational practice in the future.

Testing Reasoning and Reasoning About Testing

List of Figures and Tables. Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. The Testing Industry. 3. The Extent of the Marketplace for Tests. 4. Social Investment in Educational Testing. 5. Forces behind the Testing Marketplace. 6. Spin-Offs from the Testing Industry. 7. Test Quality and the Fractured Marketplace for Testing. 8. Meding the Fractured Marketplace. References. Appendices. Index.

Walt Haney

Papers

Charms Talismanic: Testing Teachers for the Improvement of American Education

Searching for Alternatives to Standardized Tests: Whys, Whats, and Whithers.

Validity, vaudeville, and values: A short history of social concerns over standardized testing.

Testing Reasoning and Reasoning About Testing

The Fractured Marketplace for Standardized Testing