The goal of the present study was to assess the family quality of life (FQOL) in families with children with developmental disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We examined the FQOL in relation to parents’ demographic variables (gender, age, employment status), children’s gender and age, type of children’s disability (mild and moderate intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder) and parent’s depression, anxiety, and stress levels. The sample consisted of 270 parents of children with disabilities; 90 parents of children with autism spectrum disorder, 90 parents of children with mild intellectual disability, and 90 parents of children with moderate intellectual disability. We also included a control group of 90 parents of typically developing children. The results of this study showed that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and parents of children with moderate intellectual disability had statistically significantly lower FQOL than parents of children with mild intellectual disability and parents of typically developing children. Child’s gender had a significant effect on FQOL. Also, depression, anxiety and stress levels significantly affected FQOL, while the parents’ gender, age, and employment status did not have a significant effect. Implications of these findings are discussed and some measures on supporting parents are proposed.

Background: Evaluating academic production and researchers’ impact has become a common practice in many areas of academic life. Researchers are being evaluated for many purposes such as getting employment, promotion, tenure and winning grants. Achieving full objectivity of the evaluation is a rather difficult, if not the impossible task. The goal of the present paper was to evaluate research performance of scholars from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH and to propose a single number that captures several scientometric indices. Methods: We took data from 303 scholars from 4 public universities in BiH on their number of citations and h-indexes derived from four databases/services: Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar and Research Gate. In addition to this, we performed a Principal Component Analysis of number of citations and h-indexes from these indices to come up with a single number that best captures the scientific impact of the researchers. Results: The results of this study indicate a strong relationship between all indices of scholarly achievement as measured through citations and h-indexes. Principal component analysis has shown that it is possible to obtain a single number that captures researchers’ scientific impact. Conclusion: Many metrics can be useful in evaluating researchers’ scientific impact. As the researchers in BiH have a low scientific production, universities in BiH need to adapt a strategy to stimulate the increase in their scientific productivity.

Transition period from preschool years to school years is a time of rapid changes in children’s development. Children with intellectual disability lag behind their peers without disabilities in their school readiness skills, especially in math skills. Thus, there is a great importance of school preparation programs for children with intellectual disability in improving their math abilities. The aim of the present research was to compare the effectiveness of two preschool programs in improving math abilities of children prior to their enrollment in elementary schools. The sample for this research comprised 90 children aged 60-72 months. Of those, there were 60 children with intellectual disability and 30 typically developing children. Math abilities were assessed with a subscale from Peabody Individual Achievement Test. The results of this research indicated that children with intellectual disability attending special education preschool program achieved significantly better math results than children with intellectual disability attending inclusive preschool program. Some suggestions to preschool teachers on how to improve the effectiveness of their work with children with intellectual disability were given. Keywords: children with intellectual disability, inclusive education preschool programs, math abilities, quasi-experimental design, school readiness, special education preschool programs.

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.

Inclusive education is increasingly becoming a dominating paradigm of the educational system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, although supported by positive legislature, there are still numerous obstacles to inclusion. The goal of the present study was to examine the attitudes of regular education teachers towards inclusive education, more specifically towards obstacles to successful inclusion. The sample consisted of 200 elementary school teachers from two cantons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The greatest obstacle for inclusion as perceived by the teachers was the lack of professionals trained to work with children with special educational needs in regular schools. It is of utmost importance to support regular education teachers in their efforts to support all students in their classes. This calls for a more meaningful and thorough reformation of regular schools. Inkliuzinis ugdymas tampa vis labiau dominuojancia Bosnijos ir Hercegovinos ugdymo sistemos paradigma. Nepaisant to, kad sią paradigmą remia įstatymai, vis dar yra nemažai kliūcių, trukdancių įgyvendinti inkliuzinį ugdymą. Sio tyrimo tikslas – isanalizuoti bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų mokytojų požiūrį į inkliuzinį ugdymą, ypac atkreipiant dėmesį į tai, kas trukdo sėkmingai įgyvendinti sį ugdymo metodą. Tyrimo imtį sudarė 200 bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų mokytojų is dviejų Bosnijos ir Hercegovinos kantonų. Mokytojų nuomone, didžiausia inkliuzinio ugdymo įgyvendinimo kliūtis yra parengtų specialistų, kurie dirbtų su specialiųjų ugdymosi poreikių turinciais vaikais bendrojo lavinimo mokykloje, trūkumas. Labai svarbu teikti paramą tiems bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų mokytojams, kurie per pamokas stengiasi padėti visiems mokiniams. Si situacija suaktualina poreikį įgyvendinti prasmingesne ir nuodugnesne bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų reformą.