SOCIAL COMPETENCE - AN UNTAPPED DIMENSION IN EVALUATING HEAD STARTS SUCCESS

From its inception, Head Start has maintained children's social and em otional adjustment as a primary goal of intervention, but researchers have yet to settle on a consensus definition of social competence that can be used in developmental research and program evaluation. To addr ess this gap in our knowledge base, we offer a comprehensive review of the extant research on children's social skills, including their abil ity to modulate their feelings, their social cognitions, and their beh aviors within the context of peer interaction, as measures of social c ompetence. We then examine definitions of social competence in light o f assessments of children's performance, as assessed by parents, teach ers and peers. Based upon this review, we offer a comprehensive set of concrete policy recommendations for the assessment of social competen ce as a key indicator of programmatic success, when evaluating early c hildhood intervention.