Abstract. We report a pilot program set up at the School of Psychology of the University of Salamanca (Spain) as a step to precede adapting three subjects to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). After reviewing the relevant literature, we contacted via e-mail 30 schools of psychology in 13 countries with which we exchange students through the Erasmus-Socrates Program in order to learn of their experiences. With the same goal in mind, we held meetings with representatives from two Spanish universities responsible for the issue of European convergence. We also interviewed a senior agent from the Ministry of Education to learn about the initiatives being made and the main lines of action foreseen for the future. Owing to its practical nature, the experience of the University of Barcelona was used as a model. Using a questionnaire, among other variables we assessed the workload estimated by students in each subject. The questionnaire was completed by 246 students. The results show that the questionnaire is of use for educators to check their level of demand (to what extent the hours spent by students on each subject match the time they actually should be spending on such work) and to determine which parts of the syllabus require more preparation time, or are more complex, or are the most useful. The feedback is also good for the students. This evaluation is a step that would precede introducing changes in the syllabus and activating other teaching resources designed to ensure passage of the application of the ECTS in Spain.

LolEva, a computerized test for ages 3 to 8 years old, identifies issues in the development of skills that can lead to reading acquisition difficulties. Its structure captures two distinct areas: Phonological Awareness (PA, seven subtests: rhyme, identification-addition-omission of syllable and phoneme at the beginning and end of a word), and Initial Reading Competence (IRC, six subtests: reading uppercase and lowercase letters, simple words, complex words, and pseudowords, and word segmentation). With results collected in a sample of 341 children with the target ages and attending public or private schools, the alpha coefficient was .94 for PA, and .92 for IRC. Factor analysis indicated three factors are present (performance on PA and IRC, and word reading times), together explaining 75% of variance, providing evidence to support the construct validity of the test. On the other hand, analysis of variance showed significant differences for year-in-school variable for PA subscale, F(4, 336) = 191.385, p < .001, η2 p = .695, 1-β = 1.0, as well as for IRC subscale, both in number of correct answers, which increased as schooling progressed: F(4, 336) = 197.897, p < .001, η2 p = .702, 1-β = 1.0, and task completion time, which decreased as education progressed: F(4, 335) = 47.048, p < .001, η2 p = .360, 1-β = 1.0. Also, PA repeated measures analysis revealed that was easier Identification than Addition and Omission , F(2, 672) = 31.639, p < .001, η2 p = .086, 1-β = 1.0, syllable-related tasks than phoneme-related task, F(1, 336) = 229.000, p < .001, η2 p = .405, 1-β = 1.0, and syllable or phoneme at the end of the word than at the beginning, F(1, 336) = 59.201, p < .001, η2 p = .150, 1-β = 1.0. Moreover, all items were examined and indexes of difficulty and discrimination were obtained.