The present study examined background factors associated with children's poor scores on a test of achievement in learning to read alphabetic letters (in Japanese, romaji). The participants were 1,763 elementary school students in the third to sixth grades. The data were analyzed using chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID). The results suggested that the distribution of the students' scores on the test of achievement of reading letters was associated most closely to their having scores below the 5th to 10th percentile on an achievement test of reading kanji. Signifıcantly fewer than expected children in the 3rd and 4th grades were found to have low scores on the kanji-reading test, as well as poor scores on a test of reading alphabetic letters that had resonant sounds and special mora. Background factors found to be associated with these score patterns were low scores on a test of reading hiragana syllables, a test of fluent searching of words written in hiragana, and a verbal working memory test. Fewer than expected children in the 5th and 6th grades were found to have typical scores on the kanji reading test and poor scores on reading words with special mora that were written in alphabetic letters. Background factors found to be associated with these score patterns of the 5th grade children were low scores on the test of fluent searching of words written in hiragana and on the verbal working memory test, whereas the background factor found to be associated with these score patterns of the 6th grade children was low scores on the verbal working memory test. On the basis of these results, the discussion suggests that facilitating fluent conversion of written syllables and letters to sounds, visual sight vocabulary, and verbal working memory might be effective when teaching children to read alphabetic letters.

The present paper reports a theoretical analysis of the implementation of Mastery Learning in elementary school reading instruction in Chicago in the latter half of the 1970s, focusing especially on remediation of reading or remedial activities relating to reading for pupils with learning diffıculties and educational needs. The implementation of Mastery Learning in the Chicago Public Schools had 2 main features: implementation of the method in teaching reading and citywide implementation, despite Chicago's having a very large population. A Mastery Learning concept and system that had been proposed by Bloom was implemented by the Chicago Board of Education, which had teaching materials constructed that teachers could use in remedial reading activities, so that usual activities and enrichment activities could be conducted in the same classroom. The Chicago Mastery Reading Project included the conceptual emergence of special treatment for pupils with educational needs and learning delays. However, the program was criticized because of the increased number of students who had to participate in the supplemental study in order to graduate and enter high school, and high school students' low achievement in reading. The project seems to have had some limitations, in that Mastery Learning did not function fully in the Chicago school system, the students who had participated in the project had a low level of achievement, and the teachers were given no flexibility in the use of the Mastery Learning teaching materials.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the self-understanding of 15 preschool and elementary school children (8 children from 6 years old to third grade, 7 children from fourth to sixth grade) with chronic illnesses, in comparison with 135 children with no such illnesses (including 20 first graders, 42 third graders, and 50 fifth graders from 1 school). Based on the self-understanding model of Sakuma, Endo, and Muto (2000, in Japanese), the participants were asked to describe their self-depiction and self-evaluation. The results showed that the children without illnesses depicted the self from the viewpoint of the inner surface, rather than the outer surface, and protected the self from negative consequences as the school year progressed. The negative lateral self-depiction of the children with chronic illnesses increased as the school year progressed, but no significant difference in grade level was found for the self-depiction content. In the upper grades, the children with chronic illnesses reported more self-depiction of the body-action aspect than the children without illnesses did. Furthermore, in the lower grades, the children with chronic illnesses were found to have a stronger tendency than the children without illnesses to depict the self affirmatively. These results suggest that developmental changes in the self-understanding of the children with chronic illnesses who participated in the present study were not necessarily similar to those of the participants without illnesses.

About 20 years have passed since Dynamic Systems Theory emerged within developmental psychology. After the Dynamic Systems Approach was applied to language development, some successful evidence was reported. However, few studies have been conducted on children with language delay. The present article reviews recent studies on early language learning that used a Dynamic Systems Approach, and examines cases of developmental language disorders. The review also examines the signifıcance and effectiveness of a Dynamic Systems Approach for developmental assessments and for interventions with individuals who have developmental language disorders and language delay. The review revealed stability, instability, a synergy of dynamic variables (components), attractor states, trajectories of variables, and transitions. It is also effective to examine the points mentioned above with longitudinal data for assessments and interventions to the children with developmental language disorders. Future research should specify the behavioral variables that longitudinal studies should observe in detail from the viewpoint of neuroconstructivism, which studies various levels of biological constraints on child development.

Extensive research has been published on 3D printing. Within the general fıeld of support education, the widest usage of 3D printers has been in the education of students with visual impairment. The present article reports the development of teaching materials and support tools that were designed according to the actual conditions of children and obstacles in their environment at a special support school for students with disabilities. The materials and tools were then created using a 3D printer, and their effectiveness was examined. Based on ideas from the teaching materials and support tools already in use in the school, 3 items were created: a ruler, beads, and a pulling aid. These were then utilized when the pupils were being taught subjects and also in their independent activities. Using the tools, the children began to participate eagerly in learning activities. The time to learn was shortened, and the activities were stabilized. Experience with the new materials revealed that mastery through practice was necessary in order to use these teaching materials and support tools effectively. The development of original teaching materials and support tools by using 3D printers may lead to much more successful learning experiences for children with physical disabilities.