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)

/pdf/teacher-quality-and-student-achievement-a-review-of-state-2h7rhxq1bi.pdf

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

Talking with Children About Tests; A Pilot Study of Test Item Ambiguity. National Consortium on Testing Staff Circular No. 7.

Focusing Assessments on Teaching and Learning.

Testing is closely tied to evaluation. Tests of some sort play a role in virtually all educational program evaluations; indeed, too often an “evaluation” is no more than a hasty analysis of whether test scores rose. Supervising or conducting evaluations requires an understanding of basic concepts and central issues in testing; such an understanding helps ensure that tests will not be misused as an overly simplistic “bottom line.” When tests are chosen carefully and interpreted appropriately in evaluations, test results can help answer the question, “Is this project making a difference?” Because testing is a complex technology, it is easy for program sponsors to assign concerns about how tests work or how they are constructed to the experts. But just as a wise patient would never undergo surgery without asking questions, those who intend to make use of test results need to pose pertinent questions about the costs, alternatives, and consequences of the testing decisions made in evaluations. This chapter will introduce some of the aspects of test use that ought to be looked into by those who commission and employ program evaluations. The chapter opens with an explanation of what a test is. Subsequently, two types of testing will be considered with respect to evaluation. Traditional forms of testing, such as the multiple choice test, will be discussed first. Other forms of testing, the “alternative” forms of assessment which have received much recent

The Role of Testing in Evaluations

The decision to use the very limited funds available for Follow Through... to initiate a program which will permit examination in depth of the consequence of different program approaches holds promise of inaugurating what could be literally a new era in governmental supportfor educational and social ventures, i.e., an era in which the knowledge and technical expertise of the educational specialist, the systems engineer, and the behavioral scientist are brought into harmony with the pluralistic value structure of our society.1-JOHN HUGHES

The Follow Through Experiment: Summary of an Analysis of Major Evaluation Reports.

Current conflicts over test bias and \"truth in testing\" reflect differing aims of education and the increasingly important social role of test ing in our society. Standardized testing is much in the news. Even more than earlier debates—in the early 1960s, con cerning personality tests, and in the 1970s over bias in tests—the current furor over standardized testing has become both highly public and intensely political. Testing is being debated in state legislatures and in the U.S. Congress. It is being covered widely in the popular press and on TV and radio. Federal courts more and more are asked to adjudicate testing con troversies. The popular prominence of current debate over testing was perhaps epitomized by the appear ance of Ralph Nader on the \"Tonight Show\" on January 24,1980, to publicize the recent Nader report on the Educational Testing Service (ETS). After con demning the \"reign\" of ETS, Nader gave an impas sioned plea for wider consideration of traits like perseverance, wisdom, idealism, and creativity—traits that cannot be measured by multiple-choice aptitude and achievement tests of the sort ETS publishes. The 'Tonight Show\" audience broke into spontaneous ap plause. The incident symbolized the depth of feelings over standardized testing, but it barely scratched the surface of the myriad concerns and conflicts currently swirling around testing. Should students have to pass minimum competency tests in order to pass each grade or graduate from high school? Should \"truth in testing\" legislation be passed to guarantee that testtakers have access to corrected test results and to force test sponsors and developers to be more ac countable for the instruments they produce and profit from? Should the role of standardized tests as gate keepers to educational and occupational opportunities be enhanced or diminished? And whatever their role, how can tests be made more fair, to enhance equality of opportunities for both poor and rich, male and fe male, black and white, young and old? I will explore these questions by comparing and contrasting some of the recent troubles over testing. Dozens of states around the country have imple mented competency testing programs so as to provide a new standard for award of the high school diploma, to guide grade-to-grade promotion, or to identify stu dents for remedial instruction. Though rationalized in several different ways, minimum competency testing programs seem in large measure to represent a worry that all is not well with America's schools, but they may be as much a symptom of the worry as a solution to it. In many places competency testing programs are being implemented without enough attention to how well the tests match the goals and curriculum of schooling and remarkably little consideration has been given to how instruction should be organized to help students who do poorly on the tests. These and other controversies concerning minimum competency testing were addressed most clearly in the federal

Walt Haney

Papers

Talking with Children About Tests; A Pilot Study of Test Item Ambiguity. National Consortium on Testing Staff Circular No. 7.

Focusing Assessments on Teaching and Learning.

The Role of Testing in Evaluations

The Follow Through Experiment: Summary of an Analysis of Major Evaluation Reports.

Trouble over Testing.