Teacher and parent assessments of the social competence of inner-city children: Issues of gender within race

Teachers and parents assume major responsibility in shaping children's soci al behaviors. To determine their relative perspectives, teachers and parent s rated the social skills of inner-city Black elementary school students. C onsistent with national findings, teachers perceived students as having mor e social skills and fewer problem behaviors than did parents, and viewed gi rls as more socially appropriate than boys. Teachers and parents differed m ost on their social skill assessments of female students; parents gave thei r daughters significantly less favorable evaluations than did teachers on f our of six subscales. The adults agreed most on their assessments of male s tudents. The discussion highlights parents' social skill perceptions accord ing to gender and the implications for social development and intervention for male and female students.