USS Project

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USS Project

• Summary for Fall 2004

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• 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.

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• 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.

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Code DescriptionsPlay 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.

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Childrens Play Behaviors(shown as percent of
time)
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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.

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Childrens Play Activities(shown as percent of
time)
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Play Partners
Note -T indicates percentage of total
observations -I indicates percentage of
interactive observations
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Dyad and Group Play(shown as percentage of
interactions with others)
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Emotions and Activity Level(shown as average
over semester)
Note Coding Scale 1None Displayed, 2Low,
3Moderate, 4High
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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

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Teacher Behaviors(shown as proportion of childs
teacher-oriented behavior)
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• 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.

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Code DefinitionsChildrens 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 dont like
  this, You are stupid)
• Neutral verbal/nonverbal - child makes a neutral
  statement to initiate interaction (My shoe is
  red, theres 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

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Childrens Interactions(shown as percentage of
childrens interactions with others)
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• 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.

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Responses toAggressive Behavior
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Responses toQuestion Asking
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Responses toBids for Play
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Responses toDirectives
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Responses toNegative Statements/Gestures
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Responses toNeutral Statements/Gestures
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Responses toPositive Statements/Gestures
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• In addition to our observational data, we also
  ask teachers and observers to rate their overall
  impressions of childrens behavior. The
  following information relates these ratings to
  the observational data we collect using the focal
  procedure.

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• 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

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• 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

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USS ProjectContact 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 [phone]
• Email school_success_at_sbcglobal.net