Acquiring mastery in reading is considered one of the primary academic skills during the early years of elementary school. Additionally, attaining proficiency in reading during the early grades of elementary school serves as a strong predictor for future academic achievements and overall success in life. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the effect of several linguistic and cognitive variables on decoding abilities in the Bosnian language. The sample consisted of 153 children in the 2nd to 5th grades of elementary school. To assess decoding abilities, we employed tasks involving reading real words and non-words (pseudowords). The key predictors for both tasks included phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming of letters, working memory, and processing speed. Both models accounted for approximately 64% of the variance in the scores, signifying a substantial advancement compared to existing models of reading in the Bosnian language. The results of this study may contribute to the development of targeted and effective reading interventions in early elementary education.

The goal in the present paper was to examine the combined and relative impact of fine motor ability, auditory working memory, and processing speed on fluid intelligence in a sample of early elementary school students. Our participant sample was 145 children (Mage = 9.1 years, SD = 1.1; 80 boys, 65 girls). We used the Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices Test as a measure of fluid intelligence and five other measures to represent the three predictor variables: the Grooved Pegboard Test as a measure of fine motor skills, Digit Span Forwards and Digit Span Backwards tests as measures of working memory, and Rapid Automatized Naming and Letter-Digit Substitution tasks as measures of processing speed. Regression analyses indicated that only two of these measures had a statistically significant association with the fluid intelligence test scores, namely, scores on the Grooved Pegboard (fine motor skills) and Digit Span Backwards (working memory) tests, with these two measures explaining 35% of the variance in the fluid intelligence test scores. Thus, fine motor skills and working memory were correlated with fluid intelligence in early elementary-grade students. Until the directions of these relationships are better understood, we might assume that interventions aiming to increase young children’s fluid intelligence, or at least their intelligence scores, might partly target working memory and fine motor skills.

The aim of the research is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the occurrence and magnitude of mental health consequences among students at the University of Sarajevo, which manifest themselves in certain types and levels of psychological distress, as well as to examine various aspects of general mental functioning that are particularly important in an online learning and teaching environment. The research was conducted in July 2021 on a sample of 3439 students at the University of Sarajevo. The following measurement instruments were used: The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), a Stress Coping Strategies Inventory and a Sociodemographic Variables Questionnaire. The results have shown that depression, anxiety and stress were present among students at levels which require additional interventions. Symptoms are significantly more present among female students than among male students. The differences tested between students of distinct faculties indicate that arts students have the highest values of depression, followed by students studying humanities, while social sciences students show the lowest values. The results showed that positive coping with stress is a protective factor for the symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, while negative coping style is a risk factor for students' mental health. The obtained results suggest that the pandemic has a significant psychological impact on students that require interventions in improving their mental health.

Neuromyths are prevalent in all spheres of life and can be found in all professions. The teaching profession is especially susceptible to neuromyths as teachers want to provide the most effective, science-based instruction to their students. Sometimes these instructions are not based on scientific studies but on a misinterpretation of scientific findings or neuromyths. The goal of the present paper was to examine the prevalence of seven popular neuromyths in teachers in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH). The sample for this study comprised 300 teachers from all parts of BIH. The research material comprised 300 teachers (232 females and 62 males) from all parts of BIH. Participants were either personally invited to the study or recruited through an online survey sent to schools throughout BIH and teacher organizations. As a method we used the Questionnaire consisting of basic demographic information on the participants (gender, working experience, type of teacher) and 7 neuromyths statements on which participants were asked to answer whether they think the statement is true, not true, or they do not know. The results of this study indicate a wide prevalence of neuromyths in BIH teachers. The prevalence ranged from 17% to 82%. The most prevalent myth is about learning styles, while the least prevalent was that drinking less than 8 glasses of water causes a brain to shrink. There were statistically significant differences in the prevalence of neuromyths in relation to the teachers’ gender for every statement. However, the trend is not uniform. Although, overall the neuromyths were more prevalent in female teachers (for 5 items), for two neuromyth statements, male teachers had a higher prevalence. Additionally, the prevalence of neuromyths was more frequent in early-grade teachers. It should be noted that there are also differences in the results obtained for the different types of neuromyths. Neuroscience is important for education and for the teachers. Thus, more attention should be given to the process of translating neuroscientific findings into useful facts for teachers. One way to improve this process is through the continual professional development of teachers in the field of neuroscience.

Attainment of reading ability is one of the most important goals of early elementary education. The goal of the present study was to compare groups of good readers and poor readers on several cognitive and linguistic skills and to determine the influence of these variables in differentiating these two groups of readers. An additional goal was to determine whether there are differences in proportion of boys and girls in groups of good and poor readers. The sample for this study comprised 60 third-grade children divided in two categories, 30 children in the category of good readers and 30 children in the category of poor readers. The results of this study revealed the largest differences between good readers and poor readers were on the phoneme deletion task and processing speed task. Another finding is that more boys than girls were in the group of good readers and more girls than boys in the group of poor readers. It is very important to know which underlying skills best differentiate good and poor readers at certain age. This in turn will lead to creating more effective reading interventions.  

Reading is one of the most important academic skills that children master in the early grades of elementary school. The simple view of reading postulates that it consists of decoding abilities and linguistic understanding. The present study aims to explore the development of decoding abilities in the Bosnian language in children from Grade 3 to Grade 5. We assessed the relationships between word reading and pseudoword reading as measures of decoding skills, and phonemic deletion task, rapid automatized naming (RAN) of letters, and RAN of objects as the predictors of decoding skills. The sample for this study comprised 36 children (16 girls, 20 boys). This study’s results showed a significant improvement in decoding skills from Grade 3 to Grade 5. The best predictor of word reading in Grade 5 was RAN of objects in Grade 3, followed by RAN of letters in Grade 3. On the other hand, the significant predictors of pseudoword reading in Grade 5 were RAN of objects and the phoneme deletion task in Grade 3. Understanding reading development from Grade 3 to Grade 5 is informative and can help create better reading instruction for all readers.

Neuromyths are prevalent in all spheres of life and can be found in all professions. The teaching profession is especially susceptible to neuromyths as teachers want to provide the most effective, sci- ence-based instruction to their students. Sometimes these instructions are not based on scientific studies but on a misinterpretation of scientific findings or neuromyths. The goal of the present paper was to examine the prevalence of seven popular neuromyths in teachers in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH). The research study comprised 300 teachers from all parts of BIH. The research material comprised 300 teachers (232 females and 62 males) from all parts of BIH. Participants were either personally invited to the study or recruited through an online survey sent to schools throughout BIH and teacher organizations. As a me thod we used the Questionnaire consisting of basic demographic information on the participants (gender, working experience, type of teacher) and 7 neuromyths statements on which participants were asked to answer whether they think the statement is true, not true, or they do not know, The results of this study indicate a wide prevalence of neuromyths in BIH teachers. The prevalence ranged from 17% to 82%. The most prevalent myth is about learning styles, while the least preva- lent was that drinking less than 8 glasses of water causes a brain to shrink. There were statistically significant differences in the preva- lence of neuromyths in relation to the teachers’ gender for every statement. However, the trend is not uniform. Although, overall the neuromyths were more prevalent in female teachers (for 5 items), for two neuromyth statements, male teachers had a higher prevalence. Additionally, the prevalence of neuromyths was more frequent in early-grade teachers. It should be noted that there are also differences in the results obtained for the different types of neuromyths. Neuroscience is important for education and for the teachers. Thus, more attention should be given to the process of translating neuro-scientific findings into useful facts for teachers. One way to improve this process is through the continual professional development of teachers in the field of neuroscience.

ABSTRACT Executive functions (EF) play a key role in child’s development as they are necessary prerequisites for everyday functioning and later academic success. Much research has been directed at examining whether EF are unidimensional or multidimensional construct. In this study, we tested two theoretically driven models and one mathematically driven EF model based on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions – Preschool Edition (BRIEF-P). The sample for this study consisted of 102 children with intellectual disability (77 boys, 25 girls), aged 40–71 months (mean age- 62.1 months, SD- 7.6 months). Early childhood special education teachers completed the BRIEF-P Teacher Version. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to assess the validity of different EF models. The original BRIEF-P, with a second-order, three-factor model and one-factor model were not a good fit to the data. Mathematically driven one-factor model, with the addition of correlated errors between the scales of working memory and shift, and working memory and plan/organize was a good model fit. The current study indicates that EF differentiation begins to emerge at preschool age in children with intellectual disabilities. Understanding EF structure in children with intellectual disability will help create better intervention programs for this population.

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

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.

Since the development of the original Support Intensity Scale—Adult Version (SIS-A) and the Support Intensity Scale—Child Version (SIS-C), the interest in supporting people with intellectual disabilities (ID) has changed. Resource allocation, better quality of resource utilization in the rehabilitation process, the development of support systems, and redefining the roles of organizations that support people with ID are just some of the changes. The aim of this study was to determine the factor structure of the SIS-C conducted on a sample of Bosnian–Herzegovinian (B&H) children (SISC B&H). The study included 377 children ID in B&H, aged 5-16. The data was analyzed with the SPSS 21 software (with the AMOS package). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the factor structure of the SIS-C. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to determine the factor and constructive validity of SIS-C B&H. The CFA results indicated a poor fit of both the theoretical and empirical models even after modifications were made. The EFA showed the opposite results. This could be explained by the fact that within the factor solutions obtained from the EFA, various aslope or orthogonal models, linear or hierarchical, can be constructed. Among these models, some exhibited good fit to the data. Thus, data from the current study could be used to generate new hypotheses and deliver more conclusive answers.

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.

The purpose of the study was to examine if there are significant differences between male and female secondary school students in assessing the personal and professional competences of their physical education teachers, and to determine if these group differences are in any kind of interaction with the teachers’ gender. The sample in this study were N=831 students from fourteen secondary schools in the urban parts of Sarajevo. The students attended third (N=422 or 50.8%) and fourth class (N=409 or 49.2%) at the time of the research. There were N=452 (54.4%) females and N=379 (45.6%) males in this sample, both aged from sixteen to eighteen. A 28-item Teachers’ Competences Perception Questionnaire was constructed (TCPQ) and applied on the given sample. The instrument measured the competences related to teaching skills, communication and empathy, health care instructions, pedagogical competences and physical appearance. According to the results, the male students gave higher ratings to the teachers of both genders on pedagogical competences. No significant group differences and interactions were identified on all the other competence scales. Also, the students of both genders generally gave higher ratings on physical appearance to female teachers and a significant positive interaction was found between student and teacher gender in assessing the teachers on this variable. Finally, a negative interaction was found in assessing teachers on communication and empathy where male students rated female teachers higher and female students rated male teachers higher on this variable. Theoretical and practical implications of the study have been also