abstract: The non-profit National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) grew out of the belief that teachers were a key factor in improving student achievement and that the profession needed a way to recognize and reward exemplary classroom teachers. Over 100,000 teachers nationwide have achieved National Board Certification across all certificate areas, with approximately 1,800 of those in the area of Physical Education. Although National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) have been the subjects of several studies since the inception of NBPTS, very few have investigated the impact of National Board Certification (NBC) and Physical Education Teachers. This study examined the teaching effectiveness of NBCPETs and non-NBCPETs as they taught intact Physical Education classes with their own students. Participating teachers were provided with an experimental teaching unit (ETU) with a specific learning objective, but were free to plan and design the intended instruction. This study also examined the cognitive processes of NBCPETs and non-NBCPETs during interactive teaching. Academic Learning Time-Physical Education (ALT-PE), the System for Observing Fitness Instructional Time (SOFIT), stimulated-recall interviews, and document analysis were utilized for data collection. Pre- and post-tests on the ETU specific learning objective were conducted to determine student learning and three lessons were videotaped and used in subsequent analysis. Stimulated recall interviews were conducted following each lesson, lasting between 5 to 15 minutes. Themes that emerged from the stimulated-recall interviews across all teachers included: 1) building on past skills, 2) modifications to increase physical activity, and 3) goal-directed instruction. In addition, there is no difference between the amount of time students of NBCPETs engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) as compared to students of non-NBCPETs. Similarly, students of non-NBCPETs are provided the same amount of motor activity at an appropriate success rate (ALT-PE) as students of NBCPETs. Lastly, the results showed no difference in gain scores of the learning objectives between the two groups of teachers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2014

Medium density fibre (MDF) board is used in various applications in the building-, furniture- and casket industry. The market is shared by solid wood and other flat panels, such as particle board and plywood. The market in South Africa forms part of the global market. Therefore it is possible to import MDF. The demand for MDF is driven by the building industry, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the exchange rate. The CPI is an indication of the consumer’s willingness to purchase furniture or to invest in property with subsequent growth in the building industry. The 2002 market in SA is 500 000m3 for particle board and 110 000m3 for MDF. The imported boards during this same period were particle board 10 000m3 and 22 194m3 for MDF. The extrapolated expected imports for 2003 would be 12 362m3 and 35 045m3 for particle board and MDF respectively. According to the empirical study the market increase for particle board and MDF, for 2003, will be 18%. That means that the particle board market will increase to 590 000m3 and the MDF market to 130 000m3. The 2002 production capacity was 648 000m3 (particle board) and 155 000m3 for MDF. The Sonae factory in White River can produce either particle board or MDF and this influences the production capacities. According to various International databases the requirements for SA in 2020 will be 984 000m3 for particle board and 569 000m3 for MDF. Quick calculation show a shortfall of 414 000m3 for MDF in 2020 when compared to 2002 production capacity. First mover advantage will give the mover the major market share in SA. The demand will be there. All the above calculations have been done without taking the 2010 World Football event in SA into consideration. The question is – all the current players are almost on par to make it happen. The company with the burning desire to make it work will find the finance and will have the controlling market share.

The thesis deals with two types of organizational structure of a joint-stock company regard to changing legislation, effective from 1st January 2014. The work is initially focused on new type of organizational structure - a monistic organizational structure. It consists of the board of directors and the statutory director. The work explains the operation and scope of the company's bodies. The second type of organizational structure, which analyses the work, is dual organizational structure. It consists of the management board and the supervisory board. The work is based on the Civil Code and the Business Corporations Act.

As the title suggests, this thesis focuses on the issues arising from the establishment of audit committees in listed companies in China, which hitherto have been adopted by companies on a voluntary basis alongside the pre-existing structure of supervisory boards, rather than as a mandatory requirement. Regarding this unique practice in China, this thesis attempts to address three research objectives: 1. To understand the effectiveness of supervisory boards (SBs) and audit committees (ACs) in China. 2. To understand how the operations of SBs and ACs improve the effectiveness of supervisory governance functions in China. 3. To understand the co-ordination between SBs and ACs in organisations. The first objective is investigated by applying quantitative methods of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and analysis of panel data. It is discovered that the companies with audit committees have more effective supervisory functions when companied to those without audit committees. The second objective was pursued by applying qualitative methods in the form of two case studies constructed using interviews and surveys conducted both via telephone and in face-to-face interviews. It is found that in both the case studies audit committees were established with the expectation of enhancing the effectiveness of the companies' supervisory functions. Furthermore, the face-to-face interview survey of five listed companies reveals that companies with audit committees in China still face issues of overlapping and missing supervisory functions between supervisory boards and audit committees. Thus the third research objective, regarding the co-ordination between the supervisory board and the audit committee in the organisation to find solutions to this very problem, is particularly relevant for corporate governance in China. This objective is investigated by interviewing two governors and conducting telephone surveys. The results highlight that there is the general expectation that these structures should be co-ordinated as one unit. There is also a demand to establish an independent control system to strengthen oversight functions, to reduce oversight costs, and to ensure the independence of the supervisors and audit committee members in order that they can execute oversight tasks, and to empower them against the executive directors and senior managers by promoting their status in the organisation.

Corporate Governance and in particular, the role of the board of directors, have been placed at the centre of attention due to the recent well-publicized corporate scandals (Adams, Hermalin,&Weisbach, 2009). In South Africa, both the King II and recently published King III reports emphasise the importance of the board of directors, as being the crucial aspect of the South African corporate governance system (Institute of Directors, Southern Africa, 2002, 2009).The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between corporate governance and company performance. This was achieved by defining six specific characteristics of the board of directors in relation to corporate governance (independent variables of board independence, CEO-Chairman duality, staggered boards, board size and the presence and composition of the board remuneration committee), as well as identifying five company performance measures (dependent variables of net profit margin, return on equity, return on assets, share price and dividend payout).In reviewing the available literature, it was found that there is a lack of an appropriate and publicly available corporate governance measurement tool in South Africa. The Delphi technique was used to garner the views of four experts in the corporate governance field, in order to obtain their views as to what constitutes the research selected independent variables. The emergent themes from these interviews guided the measurement of these board variables and empirical testing against the selected company performance measures using the 21 Consumer Goods Companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with published financial statements over the time period commencing on 01 January 2006 and ending on 31 December 2010.The overall results of this study indicate that the vast majority of board selected variables relating to corporate governance had a positive relationship with company performance. Of the six independent variables selected for testing, board independence, board size and composition of the board remuneration committee were found to have statistically significant relationships with the dependent variables of company performance, while the presence of a board remuneration committee indicated a moderate relationship (with only return on assets and net profit margin indicating a significant relationship) and staggered boards revealed no statistical significant difference.The relationship between CEO-Chairman duality and company performance could not be assessed, due to the sector data set revealing only one instance in which this duality existed. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The problem of this study was to develop a written code of policies and regulations for the efficient operation of the Merced City School District. The specific purposes of the study are as follows: (1) To provide the Board of Education and the stuff with an instrument for handling procedures, recommendations, and various problems in an objective and systematic way.; (2) To provide a reference source for the Board and the staff in interpreting actions to the public's.; (3) To bring up-to-date and codify the existing policies of the district.

The purposes of this study were (1) to describe through the technique of content analysis the board of trustees meeting in Texas public junior colleges, (2) to determine relationships which might exist between aspects of the board of trustees meeting and various characteristics of public junior colleges, and (3) to measure differences which might exist between board proceedings of junior colleges.

It is necessary to address the nature of board composition in the South African economy because boards of directors are the lead indicator of whether or not the transformation initiatives put in place since 1994 are effective in bringing about meaningful change in the society within which we live. Companies are a microcosm of society. A hundred randomly selected companies were used to provide demographic data which was used in the analysis for this study. The aim was to identify what constitutes a typical board of directors for a Johannesburg Securities Exchange listed company by measuring dimensions of gender, race, tenure, independence and board size attributes. Findings from this research will help companies to better understand the role they can play in leveling the playing field by enabling more black people and white females to fulfil their potential and become directors of companies. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The aim of the work was to present the history of board games from a historical- sociological perspective. The theoretical section described the history of board game development, taking into account their role in society. Subsequently, the results of qualitative research conducted among members of the board players community in the Czech Republic were interpreted in practical part. These were complemented by the results of the questionnaire investigation. This gave a comprehensive view of the evolution and transformation in the board player community, as well as the board game itself. So the work presented not only a thousand-year history of board games, but also focused on contemporary board games and their players.

The purpose of this research is to investigate why there are so few women on South African company boards. Since the first democratic elections in South Africa, diversity has been in the focal point to correct the discrimination and inequalities of the past; however the gender diversity has not been very successful on company boards. Exploratory or qualitative research methodology was employed based on semistructured interviews with a non-probability sample of 13 respondents. All respondents were women who served on company board as directors. They were from various sectors of the economy and served in various capacities on the boards. This study found that the market and the shareholder profiles have diversified considerably, however the company boards have not changed significantly. The gender gap maybe narrowing on company boards however the levels of discrimination and inequalities are still very high. Gender stereotypes continue to inform many decisions in business, including those of board appointments. The study also found that for transformation to occur successfully, leadership had to play a major role. Government has implemented sound regulatory systems that encourage diversity and it is now up to the leadership in companies to take the responsibility and give women opportunities to participate in business through boards. Government, through policies and regulations, continue to play a crucial role in facilitating transformation however the pace of change remains sluggish. Leadership has a critical role to play because the purpose of the policies and regulations is not only to get companies to achieve compliance, but to create equal opportunities for all South Africans. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted