W. James Popham, David C. Berliner, Neal M. Kingston, Susan H. Fuhrman, Steven M. Ladd, Jeffrey Charbonneau and Madhabi Chatterji
Against a backdrop of high-stakes assessment policies in the USA, this paper explores the challenges, promises and the “state of the art” with regard to designing standardized…
Abstract
Purpose
Against a backdrop of high-stakes assessment policies in the USA, this paper explores the challenges, promises and the “state of the art” with regard to designing standardized achievement tests and educational assessment systems that are instructionally useful. Authors deliberate on the consequences of using inappropriately designed tests, and in particular tests that are insensitive to instruction, for teacher and/or school evaluation purposes.
Methodology/approach
The method used is a “moderated policy discussion”. The six invited commentaries represent voices of leading education scholars and measurement experts, juxtaposed against views of a prominent leader and nationally recognized teacher from two American education systems. The discussion is moderated with introductory and concluding remarks from the guest editor, and is excerpted from a recent blog published by Education Week. References and author biographies are presented at the end of the article.
Findings
In the education assessment profession, there is a promising movement toward more research and development on standardized assessment systems that are instructionally sensitive and useful for classroom teaching. However, the distinctions among different types of tests vis-à-vis their purposes are often unclear to policymakers, educators and other test users, leading to test misuses. The authors underscore issues related to validity, ethics and consequences when inappropriately designed tests are used in high-stakes policy contexts, offering recommendations for the design of instructionally sensitive tests and more comprehensive assessment systems that can serve a broader set of educational evaluation needs. As instructionally informative tests are developed and formalized, their psychometric quality and utility in school and teacher evaluation models must also be evaluated.
Originality/value
Featuring perspectives of scholars, measurement experts and educators “on the ground”, this article presents an open and balanced exchange of technical, applied and policy issues surrounding “instructionally sensitive” test design and use, along with other types of assessments needed to create comprehensive educational evaluation systems.
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Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).
Marissa S. Edwards, Sandra A. Lawrence and Neal M. Ashkanasy
For over three decades, researchers have sought to identify factors influencing employees’ responses to wrongdoing in work settings, including organizational, contextual, and…
Abstract
Purpose
For over three decades, researchers have sought to identify factors influencing employees’ responses to wrongdoing in work settings, including organizational, contextual, and individual factors. In focusing predominantly on understanding whistle-blowing responses, however, researchers have tended to neglect inquiry into employees’ decisions to withhold concerns. The major purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influenced how staff members responded to a series of adverse events in a healthcare setting in Australia, with a particular focus on the role of perceptions and emotions.
Methodology/approach
Based on publicly accessible transcripts taken from a government inquiry that followed the event, we employed a modified grounded theory approach to explore the nature of the adverse events and how employees responded emotionally and behaviorally; we focused in particular on how organizational and contextual factors shaped key employee perceptions and emotions encouraging silence.
Findings
Our results revealed that staff members became aware of a range of adverse events over time and responded in a variety of ways, including disclosure to trusted others, confrontation, informal reporting, formal reporting, and external whistle-blowing. Based on this analysis, we developed a model of how organizational and contextual factors shape employee perceptions and emotions leading to employee silence in the face of wrongdoing.
Research limitations/implications
Although limited to publicly available transcripts only, our findings provide support for the idea that perceptions and emotions play important roles in shaping employees’ responses to adverse events at work, and that decisions about whether to voice concerns about wrongdoing is an ongoing process, influenced by emotions, sensemaking, and critical events.
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It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields…
Abstract
It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields but who have a common interest in the means by which information may be collected and disseminated to the greatest advantage. Lists of its members have, therefore, a more than ordinary value since they present, in miniature, a cross‐section of institutions and individuals who share this special interest.
Kobana Abukari, Erin Oldford and Neal Willcott
In recent years, student-managed investment funds (SMIFs), experiential learning programs at an increasing number of universities, have attracted significant scholarly interest…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, student-managed investment funds (SMIFs), experiential learning programs at an increasing number of universities, have attracted significant scholarly interest. In this article, we review the academic literature on this pedagogy.
Design/methodology/approach
We use the systematic review method to assess a sample of 85 articles published in 30 journals during the period 1975 to 2020.
Findings
Our literature review reveals four streams of research: best practices and challenges, investment management, innovation and trends and SMIFs in a research setting. We also propose future research directions, including specific gaps in the literature, a focus on innovations to traditional programs, systematic investment performance and expansion into behavioral finance issues.
Originality/value
We contribute a comprehensive view of the body of scholarship on SMIFs, identifying existing streams of research and future research directions that will help guide the development of SMIF research into a cohesive and productive space.
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Erin Oldford, Neal Willcott and Tanner Kennie
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it endeavors to document the current state of environmental, social and governance (ESG) pedagogy within undergraduate finance courses…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it endeavors to document the current state of environmental, social and governance (ESG) pedagogy within undergraduate finance courses of business schools, and second, it seeks to show how business schools can leverage student managed investment funds (SMIFs) to swiftly integrate ESG pedagogy.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is comprised of two sections that use different methodologies. The first part of the study involves a manual content analysis of undergraduate finance course textbooks, and related instructor materials are used to estimate the average coverage of ESG-related topics. Next, a case study of a SMIF that has recently integrated an ESG framework is provided to illustrate how this pedagogical innovation is effective in teaching ESG skills.
Findings
The findings of the content analysis of the three most commonly used textbooks in a sample of 17 Canadian universities, as well as associated instructor material, provide evidence that the primary emphasis in traditional curriculum remains on the shareholder, with little attention paid to ESG factors. The case study of an existing SMIF clearly demonstrates how a student-led development of an ESG framework provides the setting for effective, experiential learning.
Originality/value
This study shows that while traditional teaching settings, like lectures, may be slow to adapt to the rapidly changing needs of industry, nontraditional teaching venues, such as SMIFs, can be leveraged to meet industry demand for ESG skills, thereby closing the skills gap, enhancing student employability and increasing the relevance of business school education.
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Craig McLaughlin, Stephen Armstrong, Maha W. Moustafa and Ahmed A. Elamer
This paper aims to empirically analyse specific characteristics of an audit committee that could be associated with the likelihood of corporate fraud/scandal/sanctions.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to empirically analyse specific characteristics of an audit committee that could be associated with the likelihood of corporate fraud/scandal/sanctions.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample includes all firms that were investigated by the Financial Reporting Council through the audit enforcement procedure from 2014 to 2019, and two matched no-scandal firms. It uses logistic binary regression analysis to examine the hypotheses.
Findings
Results based on the logit regression suggest that audit member tenure and audit committee meeting frequency both have positive associations to the likelihood of corporate scandal. Complementing this result, the authors find negative but insignificant relationships amongst audit committee female chair, audit committee female members percentage, audit committee qualified accountants members, audit committee attendance, number of shares held by audit committee members, audit committee remuneration, board tenure and the likelihood of corporate scandal across the sample.
Research limitations/implications
The results should help regulatory policymakers make decisions, which could be crucial to future corporate governance. Additionally, these results should be useful to investors who use corporate governance as criteria for investment decisions.
Originality/value
The authors extend, as well as contribute to the growing literature on the audit committee, and therefore, wider corporate governance literature and provide originality in that it is the first, to the knowledge, to consider two characteristics (i.e. remuneration and gender) in a UK context of corporate scandal. Also, the results imply that the structure and diversity of the audit committee affect corporate fraud/scandal/sanctions.
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Yunjiang Dong, Neal Willcott, Xingwei Yang and Yan Yang
This paper examines the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology development and firm growth. Specifically, it aims to explore how the availability of AI…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology development and firm growth. Specifically, it aims to explore how the availability of AI influences firm growth and whether larger firms benefit more from AI-driven technological advancements compared to smaller firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a dataset from CRSP-Compustat covering public firms from 1975 to 2023, this study employs price per memory (PPM) as a proxy for AI technology accessibility to assess its impact on firm growth. The analysis focuses on three key growth metrics: total assets, tangible assets and market capitalization. By examining how data processing capacity influences these growth rates, the study compares the performance of large firms to small firms. A panel data regression is conducted, controlling for macroeconomic trends and industry-specific effects on firm growth. Additionally, the study investigates the heterogeneous impacts of AI technology accessibility across firms of different sizes.
Findings
The findings reveal that PPM, as a proxy for AI technology availability, significantly affects firm growth. Specifically, larger firms experience faster growth, especially in recent years, as AI technology becomes more accessible and cost-effective. These results suggest that large firms gain the most substantial benefits from AI advancements, further widening the growth gap between large and small firms.
Originality/value
This research extends prior studies on the impact of AI on firm growth by introducing PPM as a novel proxy for AI availability. It provides new insights into how AI technologies disproportionately benefit larger firms and offers important policy implications regarding firm financing and information regulation. This study also highlights areas for future empirical research on the role of AI in the financial industry.