70 zyxwvuts NHSA Dialog, 3, No. 1, pp zyxwvut 70-72, (1 999) ISSN 1089-2583 zyxwvut 0 1999 NHSA All rights In zyxw any form resenred POSTER SUMMARY Assessing Interactive Play in Early Childhood: Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale Virginia R. Hampton John W. Fantuzzo zyxw University of Pennsylvania Patricia H. Manz Children’s Seashore House he first National Education Goal states that by the year zy 2000, all T children will enter school ready to learn. Attaining this goal is par- ticularly important for children in disadvantaged urban areas who face risks to their development and achievement. Head Start offers a promis- ing means of reaching this goal; however, the curriculum must be in- formed by objectives to emphasize the need to nurture competencies, cultivate parent involvement, and understand children’s cultural contexts. Play provides opportunities to support these objectives.During early child- hood, play is the primary context for the development of social compe- tence. Through play, children develop social, emotional, cognitive, and language skills that are necessary for effective interactions with peers. Furthermore, the inclusion of parent reports regarding children’s play behavior at home enables parents to become more involved in their children’s education. As parents share their observations about children’s play behavior at home, they contribute to a comprehensive assessment of children’s social competence and can develop partnerships with teachers to enhance children’s success. In addition, information from parents can contribute to an understanding of play in different cultural contexts to help determine culturally appropriate peer play behavior. As Head Start strives to ensure educational success for diverse groups of children, quality assessment tools are needed to guide the develop- ment of appropriate curricula and intervention strategies. Assessment systems need reliable, valid parent and teacher versions that report on the same constructs at home and school. By providing instruments with parallel versions, parents and teachers can communicate with one an- other using the same terms that have the same meaning. In addition, pre- school and kindergarten versions should assess the same constructs to Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Virginia R. Hampton, Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, 3700 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19 104; e-mail: ghampton@dolphin.upenn.edu.