As the field of special education continually evolves, special education teachers must stay current with emerging trends and engage in ongoing professional development. The present review aims to synthesize existing research on the professional development of special education teachers. A search was conducted using the Web of Science and Scopus databases to locate relevant articles. In total, 63 articles satisfied the inclusion requirements for this review. We identified several important topics related to the professional development of special education teachers, including inclusive education, assistive technologies collaboration with other professionals, and instructional methods. The findings from this review have the potential to guide the design and implementation of tailored professional development programs and inform policy decisions related to the ongoing education of special education teachers.

Scientific journals play a critical role in disseminating knowledge, and staying up to date with research findings in a particular field can be challenging given the vast number of journals and research topics available. Therefore, there is a need for researchers to occasionally summarize the main research topics in order to help fellow researchers navigate the contents more effectively. In this context, this article aims to review the research topics published in the Problems of Education in the 21st Century journal between 2018 and 2022. A total of 285 abstracts were retrieved from the Web of Science database and analyzed to identify the most common research topics and the contributing countries. The top 10 research topics identified were self-efficacy, distance education, professional development, critical thinking, foreign language, thinking skills, Covid-19, academic achievement, emotional intelligence, and special education. The authors of the papers came from 62 countries, with most of the papers coming from Türkiye, South Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Malaysia, Sweden, Lithuania, and Serbia. In conclusion, this study highlights the relevance and diversity of research topics in the Problems of Education in the 21st Century journal, underscoring the need for a nuanced, context-specific approach to education research. The findings of this study have important implications for researchers, policymakers, and educators seeking to address the key challenges and opportunities facing education in the 21st century. Keywords: content analysis, scientific journals, Problems of Education in the 21st Century, research topics

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) was developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to measure students’ knowledge and skills needed for today’s society. PISA is a large-scale assessment of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics, and science. In this analysis of PISA data from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), we examined the relationship between gender, mathematics achievement, and perceived meaning in life in BIH students. The sample for this analysis comprised 6480 students (3148 females and 3332 males). The results of the analysis revealed a small but statistically significant, negative relationship between mathematics and the student’s perception of the meaning in life. Boys achieved higher scores in mathematics than girls, but the difference was relatively small. In addition, boys’ rating of meaning in life was higher than that of girls. Knowing what factors influence mathematical achievement might help educators create better intervention programs. In conclusion, we provided some possible explanations for these data.

The attainment of reading and basic mathematical skills is one of the most important academic goals in early grades of elementary school. A plethora of studies has shown the importance of these skills to future academic achievements and professional career. The goal of this study was to determine the correlation of reading and mathematics in third-grade elementary school students in Canton Sarajevo. An additional goal was to determine if there are differences in the proportion of academic underachievement in relation to the student’s gender. The sample for this study consisted of 70 third-grade students (33 girls, 37 boys, mean age- 103,1 months, SD- 5,6 months) attending two elementary schools in Canton Sarajevo. Results of this study indicated that reading and mathematics share 25% of the variance in the scores. The cor[1]relation between reading and mathematics was r = 0,50, p<0,01. There were more boys in the category of academic underachievement in both, reading and mathematics. However, statistically significant differences in the distribution of students were present only for reading and not for mathematics. Identification of cognitive factors that contribute to reading attainment and mathematical skills will help teachers create better intervention programs. The article ends with some recommendations for teachers on how to improve these academic skills in their students><0,01. There were more boys in the category of academic underachievement in both, reading and mathematics. However, statistically significant differences in the distribution of students were present only for reading and not for mathematics. Identification of cognitive factors that contribute to reading attainment and mathematical skills will help teachers create better intervention programs. The article ends with some recommendations for teachers on how to improve these academic skills in their students

Introduction: Adolescence is characterised as a period of further development and maturation of higher executive functions (EF). It is well established that EF play an important role in social skills and academic competence of typically developing adolescents. Purpose: The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between executive functions (EF) and academic competency and social skills in adolescents with a mild intellectual disability. In particular, we were interested to examine which EF have the greatest impact on social skills and academic competency. Methods: EF were measured with the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF), and social and academic competences were measured with the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS). The sample for this study consisted of 44 adolescents with mild intellectual disability aged 15-18 years old (mean age 16.7 years, SD1.4). Results: The results of this study clearly pointed to the strong relationship between these constructs. Of all EF, planning had the strongest impact on academic success, and monitoring had the strongest impact on social skills. Conclusion: EF are susceptible to training effects, we thus propose early interventions in these domains in order to increase the social and academic competence of persons with an intellectual disability.

Abstract The goal of the present study was to examine the predictors of reading speed and reading comprehension in third-grade students from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH). The sample consisted of 168 third-grade students (86 boys, 82 girls) attending regular schools in Canton Sarajevo, BIH. We examined the effects of phonological awareness (phoneme deletion and rhyming), rapid automatized naming (RAN) of letters and objects, semantic fluency, working memory, and processing speed, on three reading speed tasks and a reading comprehension task. For the reading speed tasks, total amount of explained variance was 33% for reading a text passage, 40% for word reading and 36% for pseudoword reading. The most important predictors of reading speed tasks were phoneme deletion task and RAN: Letters. On the other hand, the model explaining reading comprehension was much less predictive and explained about 11% of variance. Significant predictors of reading comprehension were working memory and processing speed. The results of this study are very informative in creating better models of reading. This in turn will help create better reading intervention programs and potentially reduce the number of children with reading disabilities.

Learning to read is one of the most important academic accomplishments in the early grades of elementary school. Knowing what factors contribute to reading ability would improve instructional practices. The goal of the present study was to examine the effects of semantic fluency, phonological fluency, rapid naming, inhibitory control, selective attention, and visual motor integration on reading fluency in 140 second and third grade students. The results of this study indicated that significant predictors of reading fluency were: selective attention, semantic fluency, inhibitory control, and rapid naming. However, the association between predictor variables and reading fluency was moderated by the students’ grade. The article concludes with some suggestions on how to improve reading fluency in elementary school children, given that all predictors are susceptible to instruction.

Verbal fluency (VF) is a good indicator of a child’s academic prowess and later academic success. The goal of the present study was to examine the association between VF and inhibitory control. An additional goal was to examine the developmental trajectories of VF in relation to the grade and gender of the children. The sample for this study consisted of 210 children attending grades 1 to 3. Children’s performance was measured on two VF tasks: semantic fluency and phonological fluency. As a measure of inhibitory control we used a number of commission errors committed on the Multiple Choice Reaction Test. The results of this study indicate the lack of association between VF and inhibitory control. Children improved significantly in VF from grade 1 to grade 3. In relation to gender, girls outperformed boys on the test of phonological fluency but not on the test of semantic fluency. Given the importance of VF, these skills need to be tackled during the elementary school period and even earlier in preschool.

Early math skills are a good predictor of later academic success. Finding what factors influence math performance might help educators create better and more efficient math programs. The goal of the present study was to assess the relationship of math achievement and verbal fluency, selective attention, visual-motor integration and inhibitory control. An additional goal was to assess the effect of gender and grade on math achievement. The sample for this study comprised 210 children from grades 1 to 3 (107 boys, 103 girls). Children were individually administered a math test and tests of various predictor measures. The significant predictors of math achievement were verbal fluency, selective attention, visual-motor integration, and inhibitory control. The proposed model explained around 70% of the variance in the math scores. There were no gender differences in the math scores. Given the fact that all the predictors used in this study are very susceptible to inclusion in instruction, their incorporation in an early age curriculum might significantly improve math skills at a later age.