Assessment of preschool play interaction behaviors in young low-income children: Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale

Early Childhood Research Quarterly, IO, 105-120

(19%

Assessment of Preschool Play Interaction ~eha viors in Young f o w-fnco~e C~i~~re~: Penn interactive Peer Play Scale /ohn Fan tuzzo arise S~fton-Skits Kathleen Coyle Coolahan Patricia ~o~li~a y Maffz Sally Canning Oarlena

Debnam

Unjversity of Pen~syivaffja

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS), a teacher-rating instrument of the interactive play behaviors of preschool children. The PIPPS was designed (a) to differentiate children who demonstrate positive play relationships with peers from those who are less successful with peers, (b) to identify play strengths of resilient preschool children living in high risk urban environments, and (c) to inform early childhood intervention. The PIPPS was based upon teacher descriptions of actual play repertoires that children routineIy displayed during free play. Thirty-eight teachers from 5 representative urban Head Start Centers completed the measure on 312 African American children enrolled in Head Start. Exploratory factor analyses revealed three reliable underlying dimensions: Play Interaction, Play Disruption, and Play Disconnection. Concurrent validity was established by comparing the factor patterns of the PIPPS and the Social Skills Rating System. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

presents distinctive social skills for children to master. In the preschool years, acquiring social competencies that result in successful interactions with peers is a primary developmental task (Corsaro, 1985; Johnson, Christie, & Yawkey, 1987). Young children who are not able to master t.hese competencies and form positive peer relationships are likely Each stage of development

Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to John W. Fantuzzo, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216. 105

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to experience continued social incompetence and maladaptation throughout their lives, especially when their surrounding enviroxlment is unsupportive (Cicchetti, Toth, & Bush, 1988). Longitudinal research has indicated that young children with poor peer relationships are at a higher-than-average risk for school failure (Janes, Hesselbrock, Myers, & Penniman, 1979; Roff, Sells, & Golden, 1972) and later social dysfunction (Parker & Asher, 1987). Early childhood research identifies children’s play as the primary context for studying how preschool children acquire essential social knowledge and interactive skills with peers (Johnson et al., 1987; National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 1991). Play is, according to many authorities such as Vygotsky (1976), the leading source of development in the preschool years. Through play interaction with peers, young children test out social roles and social rules: they are socialized to share, take turns, cooperate, consider others’ perspectives, and inhibit aggression. Research has revealed significant correlations among preschoolers’ levels of sociodramatic play, measures of social competence, and peer acceptance (Connolly & Doyle, 1984; Rubin & Hayvern, 1981) and between the ability to become accepted in play and all other estimates of peer acceptability (Pellegrini, 1988). In a meta-analysis of 46 studies on play and development, Fisher (1992) concluded that play resulted in “moderately large” to “noteworthy” improvements in children’s development. These studies indicate that play enhances the progress of early development from 33% to 67% by improving adjustment and reducing language problems and socioemotional difficulties. Unfortunately, the acquisition of social competencies for an increasing number of our young children is adversely affected by poverty (Zill, Moore, Smith, Stief, & Coiro, 1991). Children below age 6 constitute the largest single group of children living in poverty, with 1 out of 4 of them living in conditions of economic distress (Children’s Defense Fund, 1994). And to further complicate matters, these children are disproportionately from ethnic minority groups and are concentrated in large urban areas where schools and social service agencies are overwhelmed by urban crime and violence (Garbarino, Dubrow, Kostelny, & Pardo, 1992). In response to these risks, compensatory early intervention programs, most notably Head Start, have targeted the enhancement of low-income, preschool children’s social development as their primary mission. Longitudinal outcome studies of the impact of early intervention have shown that children in such programs evidence superior outcomes on a host of variables related to social competence and socioemotional functioning (Lazar, Darlington, Murray, Royce, & Snipper, 1982; Schweinhart, Barnes, & Weikart, 1993). The promise of these early intervention programs has resulted in plans for a large expansion of Head Start over the next few years. To be successful, such expansion must be guided by scientific research documenting what

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practices are most effective for low-income children (Zigler & Styfco, 1994). The ability of these programs to provide services that will enhance the social competency of low-income children is contingent upon the availability of developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive assessment instruments to inform the planning and implementation of early childhood intervention. Surprisingly, few psychometrically sound and meaningful behavior ratings scales are available for preschool children. Only a few preschool behavior rating scales are widely used in mainstream assessment (Martin, 1986; Wilson & Bullock, 1989). Three major limitations restrict the availability of useful instruments. First, most of these measures do not provide adequate technical information to support them as viable preschool instruments (Elliott, Barnard, & Gresham, 1989; Martin, 1986). Guralnick and Weinhouse (1983) discovered that few preschool measures met the most basic psychometric standards-one-third of the measures showed inadequate levels of reliability and only one-fifth were considered standardized or demonstrated acceptable validity. Second, many of the measures presented a negative orientation (Elliott, Barnard, and Gresham, 1989). As a consequence, the usefulness of these measures is limited to their capacity to identify problems and psychopathology (Wilson & Bullock, 1989). Assessing only deficiencies and failing to provide information about strengths reinforces negative stereotypes of low-income children and limits the potential for designing effective intervention strategies based on children’s strengths (Gresham & Elliott, 1990; Wilson & Bullock, 1989). Third, frequently these scales are simply “downward extensions” of measures designed for school-aged children (Guralnick & Weinhouse, 1983). These downward extensions neglect the unique needs and developmental capacities of preschool children and render many of the items developmentally inappropriate (Martin, 1986). Many of the social competency measures and play-coding procedures used with low-income children are also not culturally appropriate (Collins, Kinney, & Haran, 1990; Kennedy, 1993). According to Bloom (1992), the current developmental psychology knowledge base that informs these measures lacks scientific integrity as a normative standard for all American children. This knowledge base is qualified by the fact that most of the findings are derived from homogeneous samples of white, middle-class children. The inappropriate application of norms derived from the study of these mainstream children to nonmainstream children has made the latter group vulnerable to being characterized as deviant, rather than different (McLoyd, 1990; Spencer, 1990). Takanishi and DeLeon (1994) underscore the importance of developing culturally responsive assessment methods for low-income preschool children: When almost half of the population will be from African American, Asian American, American Indian, and Hispanic-Latin0 populations by the year

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2020, the current lack of knowledge about developmental processes and contributing factors of these largely young populations is unacceptable. The Head Start population presents opportunities for enhancing our knowledge about basic developmental processes and should not be viewed, as it has been in the past, as a nontypical population. (p. 121) The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a developmentally appropriate teacher-rating instrument for identifying interactive play behaviors of Head Start children that differentiate children who successfully establish and maintain positive play relationships with peers from those who are less successful with peers. The present study examined the specific tactics that children use in their play with each other, and categorized these in terms of their immediate effectiveness for sustaining play rather than in terms of their chronological sequence or some abstract level of social interaction. This measure relied upon teacher descriptions of actual play repertoires that children routinely displayed during their classroom free-play periods. Also, it was designed to identify play strengths of resilient preschool children living in high-risk urban environments and to directly inform early childhood, classroom-based intervention. Towards this end, Head Start teachers and parents were involved in every stage of the development of this instrument, Teacher and broad-based parent input were intended to enhance sensitivity to important classroom and cultural variables manifested in play and to prevent misrepresentation of the children’s play due to researchers’ ignorance of meaningful cultural expressions. DESCRIPTION

AND DEVELOPMENT

OF THE MEASlJRE

The Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS) represents a collaboration between university researchers and Head Start teachers and parents. During the first year of a 3-year research project (Fantuzzo & Sutton-Smith, 1994), chifdren identified by observation and teacher report to display the “highest” and “lowest” levels of interactive school play across a representative sample of 800 Head Start children were videotaped during classroom freeplay sessions. Parents, graduate research assistants, and teachers studied the videotape of over 25 of the “highest” and 25 of the “lowest” play activity children. The goal of this study was to identify the most frequent and most salient behaviors that reliably distinguished the “high” players from the the “low” players. Adept players were found to be those who showed skill at initiating and maintaining interactive play while displaying positive affective characteristics (active, animated, and happy). Children who were disruptive or disconnected in play displayed an inability to successfully enter play situations and maintain interaction with others. Disruptive children were aggressive and easily frustrated, whereas their disconnected counterparts were quiet and withdrawn, and seemed depressed.

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Behaviors that raters found with the highest frequency that differentiated able and less able players were crafted into 36 Likert-format scale items, including descriptions of both positive play behaviors and negative play behaviors. Teacher respondents were asked to indicate the frequency with which they had observed each behavior during school-play activities within the most recent 2-month period. in order to assess interrater reliability, the responses of 20 Head Start teachers were compared to those of their teaching assistants on a total of 100 children (32% of the sample). Interrater reliability assessment revealed a signi~cantly high correlation of 88, p< JOI. Description of Sample and Data Collection Procedures The participants were 3 12 African American children enrolled in Head Start (145 males, 167 females) ranging in age from 38-63 months, M=52.5, SD= 6.5. Family composition data for these children showed that 54% of the children resided in single female-headed households, 34% in 2-parent households, 4% in blended family households, and 8% in households where extended family members served as the primary care providers. The participants were recruited from representative, central city Head Start Centers in a program which serves over 2,900 families in 45 schoolbased centers across a major metropolitan area in the Northeast. Demographic composition of the program matched national proportions for urban Head Start programs, with income for 90% of families below $12,000 and most families (64%) having incomes below $6,000. Prior to contacting children’s parents, Head Start parent-leaders and staff reviewed the research objectives. Upon approval, parents were informed of the nature of the study and permission was sought for child participation. Of the 400 parents approached for permission, 350 (88%) responded favorably. Once parental permission was obtained and parents had completed a brief demographic questionnaire, 38 Head Start teachers from the 5 centers were asked to complete the PIPPS measure on those children for whom parental permission had been granted. The dissemination and collection of measures occurred at the teachers’ weekly staff meetings. This collection process yielded 312 completed PIPPS ratings. Construct Validity To assess the construct validity of the PIPPS with African American Head Start children, a series of common factor analyses, with squared multiple correlations used as initial communality estimates, was conducted on the data set of 312 participants. Both orthogonal (varimax) and oblique (promax) solutions, in succession of 1 through 3 factors, were undertaken. Promax rotations were conducted at varying levels of power, k = 3, 5, 7, and each promaxian solution was compared to the final orthogonal solution to determine the most parsimonious solution. The adequacy of factor solu-

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tions was evaluated according to the aforementioned criteria, and retention of either the orthogonal or oblique solution was based on which solution produced: (a) the greatest hyperplane count, and (b) the least intercorrelation among the unit-weighed factors. The 3-factor orthogonal solution best satisfied these criteria. This structure proposed the following dimensions related to demonstrated play characteristics: Disruption, Disconnection, and Peer Interaction. All items loading 1.40 were assigned to respective factors. With the majority of the component loadings at a level of .60 and above and more than 4 variables per component, this analysis yields a stable solution that adequately represents the population pattern (Guadagnoli & Velicer, 1988). Table 1 displays the item content and factor loadings for each of these factors. The Play Disruption factor consists of items relating to aggressive, antisocial play behaviors, such as starting fights and arguments, grabbing others’ things, physical aggression, and verbally assaulting others. The second factor, Play Disconnection, refers to nonparticipation in social play, with items such as hovering outside the play group, withdrawing, wandering aimlessly, and being ignored by others. Assessing the degree of children’s play strengths and leadership, the Play Interaction factor consists of items such as sharing ideas, leading, helping other children, and encouraging others to join in play. Internal consistency reliabilities for each factor were assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. All 3 factors were found to be highly reliable with reliability coefficients of .90, .89, and .90 for the Play Disruption, Play Disconnection, and Play Interaction factors, respectively. Unit-weighted interfactor correlations were within an acceptable range with coefficients of .32 to .65. The sample on which this 3-factor solution was derived was bifurcated randomly and equally for the purpose of cross validation. The analyses conducted with each subgroup also supported a three-dimensional (3-D) structure. To assess the degree of congruence among the final factor solutions from all these groups, Wrigley-Neuhause coefficients were calculated. High levels of congruence (L .98) were found for like factors in comparisons between each subgroup and the large sample. Coefficients for unlike factors were moderate to low (~.62), indicating a lesser degree of congruence. Additionally, similar levels of congruence were found for like and unlike factors in comparisons between male and female subgroups and the larger sample indicating equal applicability of the 3-D structure for males and females. In order to confirm composition of the final 3-D structure with the total sample, the items retained during exploratory analyses were subjected to an oblique, multiple-group, principal-components cluster analysis (Harman, 1976). Hypothesized cluster membership was based on the exploratory analyses, and items were permitted to migrate iteratively to clusters that better explained item variance. Analyses showed that no item migrated from its originally hypothesized factor.

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Assessment of Preschool Play Interactions Table 1.

Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale Orthogonal

Factor Solution (N= 312)

Factor 1

Factor 2

Factor 3

Factor 1: Disruption (alpha = .90) Starts fights and arguments Is rejected by others Doesn’t take turns Doesn’t share toys Tattles Destroys others’ things Verbally assaults Cries, whines, shows temper Grabs other things Is physically aggressive

.82 60 .I4 .66 .51 .68 .74 s7 .80 .79

.05

.39 .23 .21 .03 .09 .02 ‘30 .19 .04

.03 .02 .28 .35 -.16 .lO -.Oo .I1 .06 .07

Factor 2: Disconnection (alpha = .89) Hovers outside play group Withdraws Wanders aimlessly Is ignored by others Is not invited into play groups Refuses to play when invited Confused in play Needs teacher’s direction Seems unhappy Has difficulty moving from one activity to another

.Ol .Ol .ll .I4 .37 .21 .32 .35 .23 .38

.76 .73 ‘75 .?3 .64 .64 -61 .59 .51 .53

.2-l .24 .18 .30 .20 .20 .lQ .20 .20 ‘12

Factor 3: Play Interaction (alpha = .90) Shares ideas Leads other children Helps other children Helps settle peer conflicts Directs others’ actions politely Encourages others to join pIay Shows creativity in making up play stories & activities

.OI .09 .21 .ll .24 .06 .03

.33 .30 .29 .30 .25 .21 .23

.73 xi3 .70 .68 .68 .69 .60

Remaining Double Loading items Accepts idea Compromises Disagrees cheerfully Considerate Converses Goes aiong Smiles

.49 .59 .52 s4 .oo .52 .13

-24 .17 .23 .21 .55 .06 .48

.46 .49 .47 .47 .47 .42 .41

Convergent and Divergent Validity The preschool version of the teacher Social Ski& Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) was used to assess convergent and divergent validity. This measure was chosen because it has two global scales, Social Skills and Problem Behaviors, that comport with the PIPPS factors. The Social Skills Scale presents a checklist of prosocial behaviors, which are rated accord-

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Table 2. Zero-order Correlations Among Standardized Factor Scores for Teacher Ratings on the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale and the Social Skills Rating Scale Penn Interactive

Social Skills Rating Scale

Play Interaction

Social Skills Scales Self control Interpersonal skills Verbal assertion Behavior Problems Scales Externalizing problems Internalizing problems Note.

0.43*** 0.60*** 0.63***

-0.18** -0.16;

Peer Play Scale Factors Disruution

Disconnection

- 0.47** -0.34*** -0.15*

-0.45*** -0.55*** -0.43***

0.40*** 0.10

0.24”* 0.35***

N = 249.

*p< .05.

**p< .Ol.

***p< .ool.

ing to frequency. The Problem Behavior Scale is a brief frequency checklist of behaviors which impede adequate social functioning (Elliott, Barnard, and Gresham, 1989). In a recent study assessing the utility of this version of the SSRS with low-income urban Head Start children (Fantuzzo, Manz, & McDermott, 1994), the Social Skills Scale revealed three reliable factors: Self-control, Interpersonal Skills, and Verbal Assertion, with reliability coefficients of .91, .88, and .79, respectively. The Problem Behavior Scale yielded two factors: Internalizing Problem Behaviors and Externalizing Problem Behaviors, with .88 and .77 reliability coefficients. For this study it was hypothesized that the Play Interaction factor of the PIPPS would be positively correlated with the Social Skills Scale, particularly the Interpersonal Skills factor, and negatively correlated with the Problem Behavior Scale. On the other hand, the Play Disruption and Play Disconnection factors were hypothesized to be positively correlated with the Externalizing Problem Behaviors and Internalizing Problem Behaviors factors, respectively. In addition, the Disruption and Disconnection factors were hypothesized to be negatively correlated with the Play Interaction factor. Table 2 displays the zero-order correlations between factors on the PIPPS and SSRS. These correlations confirmed the expected pattern of convergence across instruments. Moderate to moderately high correlations were found between the PIPPS Play Interaction factor and the SSRS’s Interpersonal Skills, Verbal Assertion, and Self Control factors (significant at p < .OOOl). The Play Disconnection factor of the PIPPS correlated moderately (significant at p < .Ol) with the Externalizing Behavior Problems and Internalizing Behavior Problems factors of the SSRS. Finally, the PIPPS Play Disruption factor and the SSRS Externalizing Behavior Problems factor correlated moderately (significant at p< .OOl). An expected pattern of divergence across measures was also confirmed. Low negative correlations were obtained between the Play Interaction factor

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Table 3. Canonical Loadings and Squared Canonical Correlations of Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS) with Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) Canonical Prosocial Behavior

Variable

Variate Set

Disruptive Behavior

Withdrawn Behavior

PIPPS Dimensions

Play interaction Play disruption Play disconnection

0.93 -0.50 -0.83

0.20 0.85 0.11

0.22 -0.15 0.54

SSRS Dimensions Self control Interpersonal skills Verbal assertion Externalizing behavior problems Internalizing behavior problems

0.70 0.89 0.82 -0.35 -0.35

-0.51 - 0.02 0.41 0.65 0.02

0.00 -0.04 0.31 -0.05 0.74

0.54

0.23

0.11

Squared Canonical

Correlation

and the Externalizing Behavior Problems and Internalizing Behavior Problem factors of the SSRS, p< .05-p< .Ol. As would be expected, the Play Disconnection and Play Disruption factors of the PIPPS correlated negatively (pc .05 -p< .OOl) with the SSRS Self Control, Interpersonal Skills, and Verbal Assertion factors. Canonical analyses were conducted in order to further understand the nature and extent of the relationships between the PIPPS and the SSRS dimensions. The nature of these relationships is best explained through examination of the pattern of canonical loadings on the Prosocial Behavior, Disruptive Behavior, and Withdrawn Behavior variates associated with the three significant canonical correlations (canonical R = .74, .48, and .33, respectively). Table 3 reports loadings based on the variate pairs for the three significant canonical relationships. The greatest overlap in the Prosocial variate occurred between the Play Interaction dimension of the PIPPS and the Interpersonal Skills dimension of the SSRS. In the Disruptive Behavior variate, the greatest overlap was evidenced between the PIPPS Play Disruption dimension and the SSRS Externalizing Behavior Problems dimension. Finally, the Play Disconnection dimension of the PIPPS and the Internalizing Behavior Problems dimension of the SSRS showed the greatest overlap in the Withdrawn Behavior variate. Squared canonical correlations revealed that the Prosocial Behaviors variate accounted for the greatest amount of variance (54%) of the overlap between these two measures. Redundancy estimates indicated that the SSRS dimensions account for 40% of the variance in the dimensions of the PIPPS, whereas the PIPPS dimensions account for 29% of the SSRS dimensions (Wilks’ lambda = .31, F [15, 666]= 23.14, ps .OOOl).

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DISCUSSION

The objectives of this study were to work with Head Start teachers and parents in large urban centers to develop a culturally and developmentally appropriate play rating scale that identifies Head Start children’s peer play strengths and needs. Common behavioral descriptors of the play of children who were more or less successful during free play with peers served as the basis of this scale. Exploratory analyses revealed three underlying constructs: Play Interaction, Play Disruption, and Play Disconnection. The stability of these dimensions was verified through cross-validation with random subsamples. In order to determine whether the derived dimensions represented genuine underlying constructs or were merely artifacts of the measure, concurrent validity was documented using the Social Skills Rating System. Comparison of the factor structure of the PIPPS with that of the SSRS teacher rating scales showed that similar types of factors correlated positively with one another across measures. Conversely, dissimilar types of factors across the two measures correlated negatively. The relationship between the respective dimensions of the PIPPS and SSRS was further explored through canonical analyses. Three significant canonical correlations yielded the variates Prosocial Behavior, Disruptive Behavior, and Withdrawn Behavior. The greatest overlap in each of the variates was found to be between the expected dimensions of each measure, indicating that the two rating scales measure common underlying constructs. In addition, both measures’ orientation toward measuring strengths in social behavior is supported by the finding that the Prosocial Behaviors variate accounted for more than half of the overlapping variance between the two measures. Further testimony to the soundness of the constructs represented by the factors of the PIPPS is found in the considerable congruence between the play behaviors that comprise each factor and those described in various studies of socially effective and ineffective children. Children rated by peers and teachers as popular, isolated, and rejected have been observed to display constellations of play behaviors similar to those comprising the Play Interaction, Play Disconnection, and Play Disruption factors of the PIPPS. For example, items of the Play Interaction factor such as “leads other children, ” “helps settle peer conflicts, ” “directs others’ actions politely,” and “shows creativity in making up play stories and activities” correspond to observational data showing that popular children tend to lead others by suggesting roles or play themes, adding detail and complexity to enactments, sensitively rejecting others’ initiatives, and tactfully regulating the social interactions of players in a group (Trawick-Smith, 1988; White & Watts, 1973). Items on the Disconnection factor correspond to descriptions of isolate children in the research literature that depict them as hovering

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the play group (Scarlett, 1983), being ignored by others (Hazen, Black, & Fleming-Johnson, 1984), and seeking adult intervention and direction (Rubin, 1982). Lastly, a parallel exists between the items of the Play Disruption factor and observed play behaviors of rejected children such as engaging in ~guments and aggression (Ladd, 1983), and failing to compromise with other children (Rurdek & Lillie, 1985). That the various items of the PIPPS hold together as reliable factors that correspond to findings derived through other methods is validating of the various methods as well as the existence of the underlying constructs of positive play interaction, disconnectedness, and disruption. Pellegrini’s (1992) review identifies the ethological study of play as an informative approach to researching preschool children’s social development. Parallels between the methodology and findings of the present study with ethological investigations provide additional concurrent validity for the PIPPS. Studies by Blurton Jones (1972), Smith and Connolly (1972), and Roper and Hinde (1978) have derived factors from detailed behavioral observations of preschool children in free-play situations in their natural classroom environment. The methods of the present study and these ethological works heed the importance of studying behavior in natural environments and deriving behavioral categories inductively through observation rather than from preconceived theories. Roper and Hinde’s (1978) study of older preschool children, M=48 months of age, reported three factors of social behavior which comport with the Interaction and Disconnection factors of the PIPPS. First, a Social Maturity factor emerged that was composed of interactive peer-play behaviors; Solitary Play and Unoccupied Behavior were the other two factors that emerged. Other ethological studies with slightly younger children (Blurton Jones, 1972; Smith & Connolly, 1972) found factors relating to aggression and expressions of negative affect (e.g., crying, whining). These factors and the Disruption factor of the PIPPS overlap on these key behavioral descriptors. Having established the psychometric soundness and utility of the PIPPS for a central city Head Start population, it is important to point out that this study is informative only with respect to the predominantly African American population found in these urban centers. The present findings cannot be generalized to other groups because the scale’s appropriateness and utility for other populations has not yet been tested. This limitation notwithstanding, these findings do represent a promising response to national mandates to develop culturally and developmentally appropriate research and assessment methods for the nation’s growing population of non-mainstream children (Collins, Kinney, & Haran, 1990; Takanishi & DeLeon, 1994). This sample of low-income, urban, African American preschool children is not a sample of convenience representing a nontypical population, but a sample which demographically represents one of the most vulnerable

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groups of children in the U.S. Children under age 6 are the largest group of children living in poverty, and African Americans have the highest national percentage of children living in poverty (Children’s Defense Fund, 1994). It is not surprising then that African American children are the largest group of preschool children in Head Start (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1993). Despite their considerable demographic presence, however, African American children have been studied for the most part only as they compare to Anglo American children. The development of a knowledge base about African American children has consequently been thwarted, and relatively little is known about individual differences among African American children (McLoyd, 1990). This Anglo-centric approach has also resulted in characterizations of minority children as “deviant” from majority-based norms and has highlighted perceived deficiencies rather than real strengths (Spencer, 1990). In contrast, the development of the PIPPS represents a purposeful attempt to study low-income, African American children in their own right. It has been designed to be used as a research and classroom scale for a vulnerable population about whose development relatively little is known. Co-construction of the instrument with Head Start parents and teachers helped to ensure cultural sensitivity and developmental appropriateness. The empirical validation of the scale attests to its utility for idenifying interactive play behaviors of urban, low-income, African American children, as well as for differentiating children for the purpose of identifying candidates to receive or assist with intervention. By assessing competence as well as problems, the PIPPS provides information about the strength and resilience which many young children bring to bear upon the high-risk environments in which they live. Implications for Research and Practice The preliminary promise of the PIPPS as a tool for identifying and differentiating interactive play repertoires of urban, low-income, African American children invites consideration of how the PIPPS can be used to broaden our understanding of the social development of this population. The congruence between the factor structure of the PIPPS and play interaction characteristics of popular, withdrawn, and rejected children as outlined in the research literature warrants further exploration of social competency by incorporating observational and sociometric data. The PIPPS could be used to help early childhood researchers identify factors from the children’s school, home, or community settings that support or constrict the development of interactive peer play. Another fertile area for study is the predictive validity of the PIPPS. Learning about how preschool children’s play interaction repertoires predict varying levels of social functioning and general

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success through the early elementary years would constitute a significant contribution to our knowledge of the early social development of African American children living in high-risk environments. Of particular research interest is using the PIPPS to help gain a more thorough understanding of the relationship between interactive peer-play competencies and crucial transitions to kindergarten and first-grade classroom environments. The PIPPS also has implications for classroom practice. The PIPPS can be used by preschool teachers to assess their class’ overall level of interactive peer competencies and design classroom activities that will foster prosocial peer interactions based on this knowledge. For example, if the class as a whole is evidencing relatively low interactive behaviors and more disruptive and disconnected behaviors, the teacher could set up activities with more structure and adult supervision and support for positive interaction. On the other hand, if the class is showing high levels of social interaction, the teacher could build on these competencies and use peer interaction as a medium for instruction (e.g., employ cooperative learning methods). Additionally, the PIPPS can be used to inform peer-mediated interventions for specific students by identifying children most in need of peer assistance by identifying children best suited to give it. Fantuzzo and his associates (Fantuzzo & Holland, 1992) have successfully demonstrated that resilient, socially skilled preschool children can play a major role in raising the social competence of less socially skilled, vulnerable peers (victims of abuse). The success of such peer-mediated intervention strategies is contingent upon teachers being able to identify children in their classroom who demonstrate adaptive play behaviors and children who do not. Pathology-oriented behavior rating measures and observational categories based on abstract theoretical hierarchies are less able to meet this need than the PIPPS. In addition to generating positive intended uses of the PIPPS, it is also important for us to consider potential unintended social consequences of PIPPS use (Messick, 1989). The small number of psychometrically sound measures of preschool social competency increases the risk that a single measure will be used inappropriately. Therefore, it must be stated clearly that this scale was not designed to be used to label or categorize students as “disruptive” or “disconnected.” Also, it was not designed to serve as a basis for educational placement decisions. The PIPPS factors represent descriptions of young children’s social behavior best understood as a dynamic transaction between their individual level of development and the natural classroom ecology, not static traits or decontextualized classifications. Our approach was to focus upon observable play tactics and affective characteristics. Within this population, certain observed behaviors and characteristics were found to co-occur and form distinct dimensions of play interaction behavior. This study demonstrates the value of operationalizing child play at a highly specific behavioral level, rather than in terms of very

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general chronological abstractions (e.g., solitary, social, parallel, etc.). It is believed that this focus on specific play tactics, which was the inductive basis for the development of this measure, has produced scales which have greater utility for research and practice than might have been the case otherwise. Future research should continue this study and subject the same tactics to even greater microanalysis. REFERENCES Bloom,

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