Running head: PEPSI Screening 1

EDU 220 PEPSI Screening

Jessie Mejia

College of Southern Nevada

PEPSI Screening 2

The participant in the PEPSI screening is a recently turned 7 year old girl. She is

currently in the 1st grade and is excited to move towards the next grade. She is from a Pacific

Islander father and her mother is a native of Hawaii. The parents of the child have been separated

for about 5 years. The young girl currently lives with her biological mother and step father. They

live in a two bedroom apartment in the North Las Vegas. The young girl has two step brothers of

ages 2 and 9. The few times that I have been around the participant, I have asked her if she

wishes that her biological parents were still together, and her reply was “I just want a normal

life”. Her biological father is a convicted felon at the age of 22, for a robbery committed when

the participant was a new born. The father recently was released from jail and has a minimal

amount of interaction with his daughter. The mother has had issues herself. When the participant

was born, her biological mother at the time was 20 years old and did not want any part of her

own daughter. During the participant’s fist 3-4 years of her life, she did not have a stable life or

family. Her father was in jail and her mother neglected her, so she found herself living the

majority of her early years with her grandmother. Living with her grandmother was not ideal

either. She witnessed her grandma be in an abusive relationship, which can only lead to a hostile

environment and increase the chances of psychological problems for the participant. Even

through that rough time she has now reconciled with her biological mother but, not with her

biological father. After discovering what the participant has experienced in her young life leads

me to believe that she might lack certain key components in some development areas. I kind of

understand when she told me that she only wants a normal life. It is tough to imagine a seven

year old girl not living in a stable home and having to relocate from her mother’s house to her

grandma’s due to legal custody.

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Physical

In recent years, conclusive evidence has indicated that physical activity in school aged

children can not only have positive impact on health-related areas of need, but also in academic

achievement (Everhart, Dimon, Stone, Desmond, & Casilio, 2012). Based on the article, my

participants’ physical development displays positive health attributes. The young girl is four feet

two inches tall, average built, and with an abundance of energy to spare. During my observation,

the participant spent hours at a local theme park running endlessly from one ride attraction to

another. After multiple hours spent in the theme park, she still had energy to roller skate for

another hour, with no signs of stopping. According to (Pulsford, Cortina-Borja, Rich, Kinnafick,

Dezateux, & Griffiths, 2011). School-age children most often have smooth and strong motor

skills. However, their coordination (especially eye-hand), endurance, balance, and physical

abilities vary. In the participant’s case her balance, endurance and physical ability were highly

present without any negative variation. She participated in a game of “Tag” and she outran her

male competition. During my observation, every time that I introduced her to a new physical

activity, like throwing a Frisbee, she was able to learn the activity quickly with only watching

once. According to (McCown & Snowman, 2015, p.85) “Children tend to be extreme in their

physical activities. They have excellent control of their bodies and develop considerable

confidence in their skill". This statement was truly on display. The participant had such

confidence in her physical performance when it came time to attempt something new. Based on

her activities, she responds well to physical demands and does not show any signs of weaknesses

in the physical development area.

PEPSI Screening 4

Emotional

Student engagement is generally defined as “the quality of a student’s connection or

involvement with the endeavor of schooling and hence with the people, activities, goals, values

and place that compose it” (Yang, Bear, & May, 2018). During this screening, I tried to engage

with her in a positive conversation however, I sensed a lack of positive personal well-being.

Referencing to this article, the young girl demonstrated poor connection with adults therefore,

displaying sensitivity to personal criticism. I noticed that she did not take kindly to behavioral

correctness and would quickly feel upset because an adult is correcting her. I quickly realized

that her reaction might have something to do with the inconsistency of a stable home and family.

Children thrive in stable and nurturing environments where they have a routine and know what

to expect. Although some change in children’s lives is normal and anticipated, sudden and

dramatic disruptions can be extremely stressful and affect children’s feeling of security (Coe,

Davies & Sturge-Apple, 2017). This clearly is having an effect on her emotions and leading her

to feel unsecure of others. Her uncle has told me in the past that she has gotten in trouble at

school for fighting with boys and girls. Children who master social and emotional learning (SEL)

skills get along better with others and do better in school (Jones, Barnes, Bailey, & Doolittle,

2017). According to this article, the participant displays emotional behavior that is traditionally

accompanied by family instability and can lead to not trusting adults in general. She did not

respond violently or verbally abusive in her screening however, not taking lightly to criticism in

her personal life might have an impact on her relationship with her self-esteem later in life.
PEPSI Screening 5

Philosophical

The mind of the 6 to 12 year old child is a newly reasoning, abstracting and imagining

mind. At six years of age, the power of the absorbent mind is fast fading away and the age of

reasoning is dawning (Scholl, Nichols, & Burgh, 2016). This statement shows validity through

the experience that I encounter with my participant. During the screening, the participant was

eating a bag of candy when I purposely asked her for some impolitely. She responded by saying

“you need to say please”. This shows me that she has learned a skill that implements respect and

becomes the basis for understanding and adapting to society. Assimilating to behavior that is

used by many cultures around the world will help the student interact successfully. “Piaget

believed that people are driven to organize their schemes to achieve the best possible adaptation

to their environment”. This process is also known as equilibration (McCown & Snowman, 2015,

p.39). Her level of reasoning is in full stride. She has gathered a foundation that has risen the

levels of discrepancy towards finding an explanation of cause. For the most part she recognizes

right from wrong. The few times I met with the participant, she has displayed proper behavior in

her uncle’s house hold. She does not go to rooms that she is not allowed in. Every time she wants

a snack, she asks politely. Her uncle does not constantly have to remind her what rules she needs

to follow have to show any disciplinary action. According to (Määttä & Järvelä, 2013) ages from

7-11 year old are years of primary socialization and moral norms. Her ability to recognize

appropriate behavior and recognize normal behavior, suggests that the participant is showing

comprehension towards an expected behavior leading to her philosophical development.

PEPSI Screening 6

Social

“Children become somewhat more selective in their choice of friends and are likely to

have more or less permanent best friend” (McCown & Snowman, 2015, p.85). I consider the last

statement to be true because I know that the participant loves playing and interacting with my 10

year old son. She has a special preference towards him and they don’t attend the same school.

Every time they both hang out my son likes to take the role of leadership. He suggests what type

of activities to execute and the young girl has no issue with that. The participant seems to enjoy

the role of cooperating and sharing toys with one another. According to (Characteristics of the

Adolescent Learner, 2007) modeling behavior after that of older peers or students, not

necessarily that of parents and other adults is actually expected. She gravitates so naturally to my

son every time they hang out. I have witnessed when the participant is around a couple of

relatives that are her own age she does not take the initiative to play with them. I believe that

maybe she likes interacting with boys because of the different types of toys. She might just have

a bigger interest for nerf guns and video games. However there are situations were at moments

they are playing well with one another and then suddenly an argument breaks loose. According

to (McCown & Snowman, 2015, p.85) “although friends disagree with each other more often

than nonfriends, their conflicts are shorter, less heated, and less likely to lead a dissolving of the

relationship”. That is certainly true, the participant and my 10 year old son tend to disagree for

the most outrageous reasons but, in the matter of 10 minutes or less they are friends again. Based

on the screening, the child is well in the range of normal behavior. I know that at in her personal

life she is a social kid and likes to engage in multiple activities. Even though the young girl has

experienced a rough life, she still manages to keep a bright smile on her.
PEPSI Screening 7

Intellectual

The young girl as I mentioned earlier is only in first grade but, does have difficulties

communicating and relies a lot on short answers without any explanation. In many classrooms,

children do not receive enough formative feedback about their learning attempts, nor are they

taught habits and strategies for evaluating their own performance and learning (Määttä & Järvelä,

2013). The statement above is evidence that 1st graders do not have the required knowledge and

skill to articulate information in and out of school. During the screening I tried engaging with her

in a conversation about what books she likes to read. Her brief responds was “a girl that lives in a

forest and gets lost”. Perhaps her lack of conveying information is due to the fact that I am a

foreign body to her. As I kept observing, her minimal responds continued take presence towards

her close relatives. According to (Characteristics of the Adolescent Learner, 2007) young

adolescents should exhibit an intense curiosity and wide range of intellectual pursuit, an ability

to be self-reflective, and demonstrate high achievement when challenged and engaged. These

characteristics should flourish around this time in her age. She clearly has not developed any of

those mentioned traits but, she does like to engage in activities that don’t involve speaking.

Owing to speech development, logical thinking functions develops intensively as kindergartener

perceives the sensually perceived properties of articles as well as the hidden connections and

relations (Podd’iakov, 2012). Based on this article, it signals that children at a young age are

developing higher intellectual skills which will serve them as an advantage. Clearly the

participant has not had that type of exposure at her public school and is currently struggling to

convey and articulate at a high functioning level.

PEPSI Screening 8

PEPSI GRAPH

Normal
Age

Physical Emotional Philosophical Social Intellectual

PEPSI GRAPH

Recommendations for Teachers/Parents

The participant is a wonderful and lovable individual. Considering what she has been

through in her past years she has managed to keep moving forward while maintaining hope that

someday her life will be normal. The participant is physically well distributed. She has the ability

to run , jump and, move freely which also serves as energy that can be utilize in the classroom to

rise her mental development, as we all know staying healthy and fit helps the brain function at a

high level of academic performance. Emotionally the participant is just below the average

developmental expectation for her age group. I would recommend Teachers/Parents to monitor

the behavior issue a bit closer. If possible, provide the child with a more of a one to one
PEPSI Screening 9

relationship at school. The parent situation will be more difficult to approach considering her

relation with her biological parents. Philosophically the child sits right on the average mark. She

knows how to distinguish right from wrong and recognizes when she has broken any rules. In

this particular area the participant is exhibiting traits that are expected for this age. As far as

social development goes, her behavior is normal. She loves to engage in physical activities and

does not shy away from playing with others. However I would recommend distinguishing play

fighting from real fighting because she can get a bit aggressive and one can misinterpret it.

According to the screening, intellectually is the field in which she managed to rank below

average. Perhaps it’s due to the unstable part of her life that she had to encounter as a younger

child. A strong recommendation I would share to teachers is promoting more involvement in her

personal life and build a relationship with the parent/guardian that has more interaction with her

on a daily basis. I believe she has the potential to reach the Intellectual normal level if she

receives the proper support and help. Overall the child is a fantastic kid to be around with,

however there are a few signals that can lead to a negative outcome in the child’s life and its

better to address them now before they become out of reach.

PEPSI Screening 10

References

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for a New Generation of Citizenship. International Journal of Children’s Rights, 17(3), 501–517.
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Coe, J., Davies, P., & Sturge-Apple, M. (2017). Family Instability and Young Children's
School Adjustment: Callousness and Negative Internal Representations as Mediators. Child
Development, 89(4), 1193-1208. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12793

Coyl, D. D. (2009). Kids Really “Are” Different These Days. Phi Delta Kappan, 90(6),
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Everhart, B., Dimon, C., Stone, D., Desmond, D., & Casilio, M. (2012). The Influence of
Daily Structured Physical Activity on Academic Progress of Elementary Students with
Intellectual Disabilities. Education, 133(2), 298–312. Retrieved from
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Friend, M., & Davis, T. L. (1993). Appearance-Reality Distinction: Children’s

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Havighurst, S. S., Wilson, K. R., Harley, A. E., Kehoe, C., Efron, D., & Prior, M. R.
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Jones, S. M., Barnes, S. P., Bailey, R., & Doolittle, E. J. (2017). Promoting Social and
Emotional Competencies in Elementary School. Future of Children, 27(1), 49–72. Retrieved
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Määttä, E., & Järvelä, S. (2013). Involving Children in Reflective Discussions about
Their Perceived Self-Efficacy and Learning Experiences. International Journal of Early Years
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Paechter, C., & Clark, S. (2016). Being “Nice” or Being “Normal”: Girls Resisting
Discourses of “Coolness.” Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 37(3), 457–
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Podd’iakov, N. (2012). Speech and Intellectual Development in Children. Journal of

Russian & East European Psychology, 50(2), 84–86. https://doi-
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Pulsford, R. M., Cortina-Borja, M., Rich, C., Kinnafick, F.-E., Dezateux, C., & Griffiths,
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Scholl, R., Nichols, K., & Burgh, G. (2016). Connecting Learning to the World beyond
the Classroom through Collaborative Philosophical Inquiry. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher
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Yang, C., Bear, G. G., & May, H. (2018). Multilevel Associations between School-Wide
Social-Emotional Learning Approach and Student Engagement across Elementary, Middle, and
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