STEM education has become important in many countries around the world. STEM education can begin while students are very young. However, earlier research has shown that one of the most important factors influencing the decision on scientific research selection is the middle school science classes. In this research, we extract database from Scopus to evaluate the scientific results of publications in the field of STEM education in middle school in the period 2000–2020. A data set of 272 academic papers was indexed to monitor the development of this field by Scopus. The results of the quantitative analysis showed that researches on STEM education in middle schools have boomed in the last 5 years, mainly in the USA. The trend of research collaboration in the field of STEM education in middle schools is not strong. The research topics are quite diverse, focusing on a number of issues: gender, engineering education, curriculum, etc. This study has some limitations, including that only data from the Scopus database were selected and manually filtered, so our analyses totally depended on the quality of the input information imported from the Scopus database.

The issue of slow learners has remained a concern for educators due to the burdens on school systems and the social and academic consequences to the learners themselves. An understanding of learning behaviours and cognitive characteristics of slow learners together with their social and educational environment facilitates appropriate intervention strategies. This paper reports part of the findings from a three-year study conducted to identify and support slow learners in learning mathematics at primary schools in Vietnam. Findings indicate both home- and school-based barriers to the academic success of slow-learning students, which highlights the need for individualised support and tailored teaching. [GRAPHICS] .

STEM education, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, is an important educational model in primary and secondary schools, including elementary schools. STEM education is being emphasized in many countries around the world. In Southeast Asia, the current state of STEM education is quite diverse and there is a discrepancy between countries. This study focuses on analyzing quantitative scientific indicators based on 490 publications on STEM education in elementary schools from 2000 to December 2022 in the Scopus database. The data is analyzed by bibliometrics software Biblioshiny and VOSviewer on the collaboration network between scientists in the field of STEM education in elementary schools, countries with the most publications, emerging keywords and related keywords, as well as research trends on STEM education in elementary schools for Southeast Asian countries. The results of the study show that publications on STEM education in elementary schools in Southeast Asian countries started to be studied from 2008 and have been increasing rapidly; scientific papers published in some high-impact factor journals; the countries with the most publications are not necessarily Southeast Asian countries, mainly in the Americas, Europe, Asia, with Indonesia being the only Southeast Asian country in the top-5 countries with the most publications on this research trend. Based on the analysis, the article proposes some directions for STEM education research in elementary schools in Southeast Asian countries to achieve high effectiveness in training at elementary schools.

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Given principals’ central role in school performance, this study seeks to explore factors that influence school principal competency. The study employed a quantitative research approach. A survey questionnaire was administered to 290 principals across six northwestern mountainous provinces in Vietnam. The questionnaire considered eight areas of principal competency, including self-development and the development of others; school organization and operation; staff development; instructional programme management; education quality assurance management; management of financial resources; engagement with families, community and government; and the school’s strategic planning. Analyses of variance and correlation (Pearson’s r) techniques were used, and the findings demonstrate that principals’ competencies were statistically affected by both internal factors (gender, experience, health, family and IT skills) and external factors (school location, school demographics and school facilities). However, the study found no correlation between principals’ academic qualifications and their competencies.