The present article reports the development of a Screening Test of Risks for School Absenteeism (STeRA), which aims to screen students so as to identify students at risk of absenteeism and suggest support plans (Study 1), and the analysis of factors relating to the number of days of absence and clinical features of elementary school students at risk of school absenteeism (Study 2). The participants were 225 elementary school students (grades 4-6). Study 1 demonstrated the reliability of STeRA as well as its convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity. Study 2 suggested an association between the number of days late for school, communication with classmates, requests for help, sleepiness, solving problems in Japanese language class, and homework, and the number of days absent. In addition, a group of students identified by the screening test as being at risk for school absenteeism tended to be absent and late more days than the children in the adaptation group, and their scores on STeRA tended to be higher. These results suggest priorities for intervention with the target children in order to prevent inappropriate absenteeism. It is hoped that STeRA will be used widely as a screening test. One of the challenges was to develop a questionnaire for subjective evaluation of the children’s condition.

To investigate the effect of writing correct and well-organized Chinese characters (kanji) on academic achievement, the relationship between kanji writing scores and academic skills was examined using 2 scoring criteria: correct and wellorganized, and discriminative. The participants, 155 first- to sixth-grade elementary school students enrolled in regular classes, took a kanji-writing test. The relationship between kanji writing scores and visual information processing ability was also investigated. Significant correlations were found between the students’ kanji writing scores and their academic scores in Japanese and mathematics, using either scoring criterion, but no significant differences were found among those correlations. In addition, whereas the correlation between kanji writing scores and visual information processing ability was high in the lower grades on the correct and well-organized criterion, the correlation decreased in the higher grades. This suggests that visual working memory may have been overloaded when the students were attentive to details of the kanji characters on the dimension of correct and well-organized writing of characters. The present results suggest that instruction in kanji writing aiming at the students’ writing meeting a criterion of being correct and well-organized may not be necessary for academic achievement, and that instruction in writing correct and well-organized characters may cognitively overload children, especially those with developmental dyslexia who have visual information processing disorders and those with developmental disorders who have deficits in working memory.

The purposes of the present study were to review research done outside of Japan on the emergent literacy of young children with normal hearing and those who are deaf or hard of hearing, and to examine educational issues related to reading and writing for deaf or hard of hearing young children in Japan. Research on the development of emergent literacy in deaf or hard of hearing children showed the need for a longitudinal study across the entire early childhood period of a large number of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, based on objective observational studies. In particular, the review suggested that children’s interest in letters and books should be observed, and whether the development of emergent literacy and the process of literacy development by children who are deaf or hard of hearing is similar to that of children with normal hearing should be examined. The relationship between the development of working memory and narratives related to the development of emergent literacy is another topic for future study. In terms of the environment, the present study focused on how picture books are read and showed to children. Few studies have been conducted on the relationship between parents and children that is formed through discipline and the development of emergent literacy, suggesting that this is an issue for future study. The relationship between the type of environment in which children are exposed to means of communication and the development of language skills is another issue for future study. Finally, no indicators have as yet been developed to evaluate the above issues comprehensively, even though such indicators are necessary to create instructional plans and evaluate instruction.

For people with intellectual disabilities, support for employment and leisure have been given importance in the transition from school education to employment. Even though employment and leisure activities are mutually influential for all people, including those with intellectual disabilities, the factors that support these 2 types of activities have usually been addressed in separate studies. The purpose of the present study was to review previous research on employment and leisure support for people with intellectual disabilities. A second goal was to address the current status of each of these areas of support, focusing on common issues and examining the relationship between employment and leisure support. The most frequently encountered issue in common with both employment and leisure support for people with intellectual disabilities was a lack of support for building human relationships with their supporters and with those who spend work or leisure time with them. The relationships between people with intellectual disabilities and their supporters were role-dependent, changeable, or limited to the support setting. In the future, support provided during the transition period from school education to employment for people with intellectual disabilities could be more beneficial if it were to emphasize building long-term stable relationships that are not dependent on roles or settings. Further study should focus on the following: (a) examining the relative stability of the various relationships between people with and without intellectual disabilities, (b) comparing these relationships, and (c) clarifying the number of more stable relationships and identifying who could be key people for people with intellectual disabilities.