Mathematics, along with reading and writing, is a core academic subject in the school curriculum. The development of mathematical skills is influenced by various cognitive factors, with executive functions (EF) playing a central role. EF, which encompasses working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility, is critical for supporting complex cognitive processes required for problem-solving and mathematical reasoning. Research consistently shows that children with stronger EF tend to achieve better academic outcomes, including in mathematics. The goal of the present study was to examine the relationships between the global EF and its three core components - working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility - and their impact on mathematics achievement. The sample for this study consisted of 180 children, aged 8-11 years (mean age: 9.6, SD: 1.0 year; 83 girls, 97 boys). EF was assessed using the Yellow-Red test, while mathematics achievement was evaluated based on teachers' evaluations of the child's mathematics performance. The results indicated a statistically significant effect of global EF and its three components on mathematics achievement. Given the potential malleability of EFs, we conclude with recommendations for strategies to enhance EF development at an early school age.

Early intervention (EI) based on behavioral science is one of the most promising treatment options for children with autism. Ever since Ivar Lovaas study from 1987, researchers are aware of the benefits of intensive early intervention in improving the outcomes of children with autism. Children who receive EI often show remarkable improvements in their social, cognitive, and adaptive skills. These interventions typically involve structured teaching methods, intensive behavioral therapies, and a variety of support services tailored to the individual needs of each child. By addressing the core symptoms of autism early in a child's development, these programs aim to foster better long-term outcomes. In this paper, we presented an overview of the main topics in the field of EI for children with autism published in major scientific journals. For this purpose, we performed a search of the Web of Science citation base and identified 91 articles published in the period 2019-2023 that had the words “early intervention” and “autism” OR “ASD” in their titles. The selected articles dealt with several interesting topics ranging from improving social communication and joint attention to topics dealing with quality of life and parent mediated EI programs. We concluded the paper with a discussion on the future directions of EI research. Despite the significant progress made, there is still much to learn about optimizing these early behavior interventions. Future research should aim to personalize intervention strategies to meet the unique needs of each child with autism and their families. Additionally, more longitudinal studies are needed to understand the long-term impacts of EI on various life outcomes.

The Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices (TEIP) scale is a widely used instrument for assessing teachers' effectiveness in implementing inclusive practices. The TEIP has not been validated in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH). The goal of the present study was to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the TEIP in a sample of teachers in BIH. The sample consisted of 239 elementary school teachers (204 females, 35 males; mean age‐ 43.5 years, SD‐ 8.3 years). The results of the CFA found that the original TEIP structure was not a good fit for our data. However, through some modifications on the item level, we created a satisfactory model that retained the same structure as the original TEIC. The composite reliability and construct maximal reliability were well above the recommended cut point of 0.70 for all factors. Our findings suggest that the modified version of the TEIP has the potential to be an effective and useful instrument for assessing teachers' efficacy in inclusive practices in BIH. This study represents an important step towards the cultural adaptation and validation of the TEIP in BIH, highlighting areas for future research and application in diverse educational contexts.

Fine motor skills are a good indicator of a child’s overall development. They underpin almost all everyday activities from self-care skills such as dressing to academic skills such as writing and drawing. In this study we examined the development of fine motor skills of early elementary school children. The sample for this study consisted of 175 children (93 boys, 82 girls, mean age= 120 months; SD = 10.7 months). attending 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. We used Grooved Pegboard test for measuring fine motor skills. We found a medium, statistically significant, correlation between age and motor skills, with stronger correlation at younger age. In relation to child’s grade, there were statistically significant differences in motor skills between children attending 3rd and 4th grade, but no differences between children in 4th and 5th grade. As for the gender, there were no mean differences between boys and girls in the 3rd grade, but there were differences in 4th and 5th grade with girls achieving statistically significantly better scores on Grooved Pegboard test. Fine motor skills should routinely be examined in children and appropriate remediation programs should be set if a child falls behind in motor skills. We concluded a paper with several ways how elementary schools can include fine motor exercises in their curricula.

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.

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.

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.

Autistic children often have difficulties in executive functions (EF). These difficulties can, in turn, affect their everyday functioning. It is less clear in what way EF are affected by the severity of autism symptoms in children. We hypothesize that autism severity level does not have the same effect across the different components of EF. In this study, we examined how EF are affected by the autism severity level in a sample of 52 autistic children aged 4–7 years (mean age‐ 5.4 years, SD‐ 0.9 years). EF were measured through teachers' reports on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions‐ Preschool Version. Autism severity level was measured with the Social Communication Questionnaire‐ Current Form. The results of this study showed that autism severity level impacted two EF, namely Planning and Working memory, and did not affect three EF components: Inhibition, Shifting, and Emotional Control. These results indicate that the cool or cognitive EF are more affected by autism severity level than hot EF. We conclude the article with suggestions for improving EF in autistic children.

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

Aim: This paper presents a qualitative study of the experiences of parents raising children with autism, as reflected in the media. The study aimed to explore the lived experiences of parents of children with autism and the challenges they face in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods: A content analysis of 20 media articles featuring parents of autistic children was conducted. The articles were selected from a range of sources, including newspapers, magazines, and online news portals. Results: We identified four major themes: supports, education, spousal relationships, and future. It should be noted that these themes are often intertwined. Conclusion: The findings highlight the importance of providing support and resources to parents of children with autism, as well as the need for greater awareness and understanding of the challenges they face. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed, and suggestions for future research are presented.

Current trends in educational sciences can best be evaluated by assessing the master and doctoral theses defended at the universities. The goal of the present paper was to do a qualitative content analysis of the titles of master theses defended at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Total of 393 master theses defended in the period from 2012 to 2021 were the subject of this analysis. Of these, 287 were defended at the department for teacher education and 106 at the department for preschool education. As expected, most of the studies dealt with early elementary school students and preschool children. Many studies contained the term “development” in its title, and it was referring to all domains from speech to socio- emotional and motor development. Several studies examined parental and teachers’ attitudes towards various topics. In relation to the subject, most studies dealt with science education, followed by physical education and language. A number of studies had special education as the main topic, covering issues of teacher competencies, creativity, support to students with developmental disabilities, to the quality of life. Students have studied various relevant topics. In the future, we expect to see an increase in studies covering digital competencies of teachers and evaluation of online education.

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.