Victoria Espinoza

Early mathematical skills are important predictors of academic performance and overall developmental trajectories. Therefore, appropriate assessment is critical to support later development. The MARKO-D test, which was developed in Germany for the assessment of early mathematical and arithmetic concepts, is based on a theoretical model of mathematical development. The present study reports the translation process, cultural adaptation, standardization, and development of a digital version of the test. The sample included 293 students from prekindergarten to the second grade, between 4.08 and 8.66 years old. The test was administered in a 45-min session. To provide evidence of validity in relation to other variables, a subsample of students was administered the WISC-V arithmetic and cube construction tests. The empirical performance of the underlying model was tested using a Rasch analysis. The results provide adequate indicators of reliability and evidence of validity. The need for cross-cultural validity assessment instruments adapted and validated for different populations is reflected.

Quality of education depends to a large extent on the activities that teachers implement in the classroom. Various international programs have been designed and implemented to promote children's learning in school contexts. Research and management teams design proposals to be implemented by teachers in schools; however, not all of them are successfully replicated. Several studies have focused on identifying the conditions that determine the potential impact of educational programs on student learning. This qualitative study presents an exploratory descriptive design that seeks to analyze the barriers and facilitators related to the implementation of educational programs in classrooms of two regions of Chile. Through semi-structured interviews, information was collected from both classroom teachers and professionals in charge of implementing educational programs. The results were analyzed following grounded theory and indicate the existence of a series of factors that act as barriers and/or facilitators for the implementation of programs from a teacher's perspective. We reflect on the need to consider these elements to promote the success of classroom initiatives.

Adapting a test from one language to another is no easy task. The literal translation of the items is certainly not enough since the meanings and references change from one language to another. In the case of Spanish adaptations, the problem becomes even more complex, as there are many varieties of Spanish, almost as many as Spanish-speaking countries. This article presents 10 tips for adapting tests to Spanish regarding the morphological, syntactic, and pragmatic elements that should be considered when adapting an instrument to Spanish. These tips are based on experience with the adaptation of various instruments, such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scales (WISC-III, WAIS-IV, and WISC-V) and the Big Five from English, and the ELFE scale, MARKO-D, and the Berlin Intelligence Test from German.

Executive functions are psychological processes of great importance for proper functioning in various areas of human development, including academic performance. For this reason, from both clinical and educational perspectives, there is great interest in how they are assessed. This article describes the development and standardization process of Yellow-Red, an instrument for directly assessing executive functions in children between 6 and 11 years of age in a playful format using digital support. The test was based on a three-factor model of executive functioning: inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Yellow-Red comprises six subtests: cognitive inhibition, behavioral inhibition, auditory working memory, visual working memory, cognitive flexibility, and a global assessment test of executive functions. The test was administered to 245 boys and girls between 6 and 11 years of age. Along with the Yellow-Red subtests, gold standard tests were applied for each of the executive functions assessed. The test’s psychometric properties are powerful in both reliability and validity evidence. The reliability indices are all greater than 0.8. As evidence of convergent validity, correlations were established between the tests, and the tests considered gold standards. All correlations were significant, with values ranging between 0.42 and 0.73. On the other hand, the factor structure of the test was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. Although it is possible to demonstrate the progressive differentiation of the factor structure with age, it was only possible to find two factors at older ages, one for inhibition/flexibility and one for working memory.

This study investigated the repercussions of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the subsequent quarantine on the emotional well-being of children in their initial years of formal schooling, with particular emphasis on children with special educational needs (SEN) and children from high and low socioeconomic statuses (SES). This longitudinal study employed the Child Behavior Checklist for ages 6-18 (CBCL) completed by the students' guardians at least once during 2018-2019 and again during 2020. The results showed differences in internalizing and externalizing problems after 8 months of quarantine and a significant increase in students fitting clinical or borderline categories given by the CBCL itself. The results are described in detail for four groups considering the combination of SEN and SES characteristics, showing the importance of their intersectionality, especially between low SES and SEN. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

There is resounding evidence of the existence of direct precursors of written language, most specifically phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, and oral comprehension. The initial differences identified in the development of written language precursors are directly related to subsequent students’ academic trajectories. Socioeconomic status is a significant source of initial differences in performance, with discrepancies in the development of reading precursors favoring children from more affluent backgrounds. We assessed reading precursors in 176 Chilean children from different socioeconomic levels. Significant differences in performance were found, which tended to favor the higher socioeconomic groups for each precursor we tested. However, the developmental trajectories of skills were similar for phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, and oral comprehension. A compensatory trajectory was observed only in the case of rapid naming. The problem arises from the need for educational systems to adapt to the specific needs of their students, in order to generate compensatory trajectories in all reading precursor skills and enable a decrease in the gaps in reading performance among children from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Los niños con discapacidad presentan mayor riesgo de presentar problemas socioemocionales. En el presente estudio se comparó la presencia de problemas emocionales en preescolares con discapacidad visual, discapacidad auditiva y desarrollo típico en cuanto a los problemas totales, externalizantes e internalizantes, así como respecto de síndromes específicos. El grupo con discapacidad sensorial presenta significativamente más problemas emocionales en la escala total y la escala de problemas externalizantes, que el grupo de desarrollo típico. Distinguiendo por tipo de discapacidad presentada, el análisis arrojó que los tres grupos difieren significativamente solo en las escalas total y externalización. Finalmente, se analizó la prevalencia de rangos de riesgo y clínicos para los tres grupos principales. Aun cuando las diferencias no son estadísticamente significativas, optan por ser mayores en los grupos con discapacidad sensorial. Los resultados se discuten en torno a la importancia de la detección y prevención de problemas socioemocionales tempranamente, lo cual es fundamental para promover una mejor calidad de vida de las personas con discapacidad, además de evitar enfermedades mentales en el futuro.

La implementación de sistemas de educación inclusiva supone un desafío tanto a nivel de escuelas como respecto del desarrollo de las políticas públicas que la sustenten. La presente investigación compara los resultados obtenidos en habilidades cognitivas, precursores de la lectura, matemática inicial y problemas emocionales en estudiantes de educación inicial, 29 de ellos con discapacidad visual y 22 con discapacidad auditiva. Los resultados se analizaron en función del tipo de sistema escolar al que pertenecían los estudiantes, es decir, si estaban integrados en escuela regulares o si estudiaban en escuelas especiales. Los resultados indican la presencia de diferencias en el desempeño en las diversas áreas evaluadas según el tipo de discapacidad y el sistema escolar. Los resultados se discuten en torno a la importancia de diseñar estrategias y políticas educativas que se adapten a las características y necesidades de los estudiantes, considerando los recursos, tanto materiales como humanos, necesarios para generar un sistema educativo realmente inclusivo.