USS Project Summary for Fall 2004

Thank you again for your participation in the USS Project. We had a very successful first semester thanks to the cooperation of the schools, teachers, children and parents. This report is a summary of some of our preliminary findings over the course of the Fall 2004 semester.

In this first series of graphs, data from our “scan” observations are presented. These are a series of short (10 second) observations of each child to determine the type of behavior he/she is engaged in, the particular activity in which they are engaged, with whom they are playing, and their emotions during play. Over the course of the semester, we were able to obtain an average of 65 of these observations per child.

Code Descriptions— Play Behavior Social Play ‑ child is involved in interaction with 1 or more children. Parallel Play – children are playing along side each other but not interacting. Onlooking - child is watching other children play but is not involved in it. Rough/Tumble Play – Aggressive-type play done in a playful, happy way (e.g., tackling each other in football, wrestling.) Solitary-Constructive Play ‑ playing alone quietly (e.g., reading a book, watching TV), or "constructive" play (blocks,tinker toys, puzzles) Solitary-Nonconstructive Play – playing alone in a repetitive way(e.g. swinging, jumping, bouncing a ball) or "make believe" or dramatic play while alone. Teacher Oriented ‑ child is involved in some activity/interaction with the teacher (e.g., talking to teacher, listening to teacher) Unoccupied Play - Characterized by a lack of focus or intent. Victimization (Target of Aggression) – the target child was the target of a physically, verbally, or relationally aggressive act.

Children’s Play Behaviors (shown as percent of time)

Code Description- Play Activities Active play - riding bikes, playing with balls, or climbing. Academic - math or science games, reading, writing. Pretend play - dramatic and dress-up play or creative play with figures. Artistic play - crayons, paints or clay. Object play - playing with toys like blocks, trucks or action figures.

Children’s Play Activities (shown as percent of time)

Play Partners Note: -T indicates percentage of total observations; -I indicates percentage of interactive observations

Dyad and Group Play (shown as percentage of interactions with others)

Emotions and Activity Level (shown as average over semester) Note: Coding Scale: 1=None Displayed, 2=Low, 3=Moderate, 4=High

Code Description- Teacher Behaviors Comforting - teacher is providing comfort to a child who is hurt or upset. Conversation – teacher and child are talking. Teacher is not providing any instruction, comfort or discipline. Discipline – teacher is putting a child in time out, for example. Instruction - direct teaching or providing directions for an activity Instrumental Help - tying shoes, cleaning a child, etc. No direct interaction – the child is focused on what the teacher is doing or saying to another child but the teacher is not interacting with the child. Play - playing with child as a partner in a game/activity

Teacher Behaviors (shown as proportion of child’s teacher-oriented behavior)

In the next series of graphs, data from our “focal” observations are presented. These are a series of longer (30 minute) observations of each child to examine his/her interactions with other children. The way in which the child initiates interaction and the response they receive from peers/adults is coded. Over the course of the semester, we were able to obtain an average of 7 of these observations per child.

Code Definitions— Children’s Interactions Positive verbal/nonverbal - child makes a positive statement or gesture to initiate interaction ( “I like you, this is fun” or child is giving a hug, a pat on the back, etc.) Negative verbal/nonverbal - child makes a negative statement or gesture to initiate interaction. (“ I hate you”, “I don’t like this”, “You are stupid”) Neutral verbal/nonverbal - child makes a neutral statement to initiate interaction (“My shoe is red, there’s a bug here” or child is shrugging shoulders, nodding) Aggression - child is involved in physical, verbal, or relational acts intended to cause pain/distress in others (hitting, pushing, shoving, name calling, threatening, teasing or telling another child to go away, saying mean things about another child) Ask Questions - child asks a question to initiate interaction. Bid for Play - child initiates play with another child/teacher (i.e. child holds out a toy and runs away for the other child to run after him/her) Directive/Instruction - child is telling another child/teacher what to do

Children’s Interactions (shown as percentage of children’s interactions with others)

The next series of graphs involve analyses of the focal data. Presented here are the most likely responses to each type of interactive behavior employed by the children. For example, the first graph shows how other children respond when another child displays aggressive behavior.

Responses to Aggressive Behavior

Responses to Question Asking

Responses to Bids for Play

Responses to Directives

Responses to Negative Statements/Gestures

Responses to Neutral Statements/Gestures

Responses to Positive Statements/Gestures

In addition to our observational data, we also ask teachers and observers to rate their overall impressions of children’s behavior. The following information relates these ratings to the observational data we collect using the focal procedure.

The way that children approach social interactions is related to their overall social and academic functioning. –A higher number of positive social approaches are associated with teachers’ ratings of increased academic skills and increased social competence –Frequently asking questions to initiate interaction is associated with teachers’ ratings of increased overall language skills, specifically an ability to speak clearly and to understand and relate to verbal information

Kids may also approach social interaction in a variety of negative or less effective ways. –A higher number of negative social approaches is associated with teachers’ ratings of decreased overall language skills, specifically an ability to speak clearly and to understand and relate to verbal information; and with observers’ ratings of increased impulsivity –A higher frequency of ignoring others is associated with teachers’ and observers’ ratings of decreased school enjoyment –A higher frequency of aggressive behavior towards peers is associated with ratings of decreased compliance and adaptability, increased disruption, anger and impulsivity, increased conflict with adults in the classroom, and decreased social competence

USS Project Contact Information Feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions about our data collection procedures or our preliminary findings. –Dr. Stacie Foster, Project Manager –Phone: –