Since the groundwork for social development is laid during a child's early years, early childhood programs should include regular, periodic, formal and informal assessments of children's progress in the acquisition of social competence. One assessment tool that can be used is the Social Attributes Checklist, which lists attributes of a child's social behavior and preschool experience that can be examined every 3 or 4 months. The assessment should establish whether the attributes are typical of the child's functioning and should, therefore, be conducted over a period of about a month. The checklist involved in the assessment includes 8 individual, 14 social skill, and 2 peer relationship attributes. These attributes are listed in the text. If the child is judged to be doing well on most of the attributes, then it can be assumed that occasional social difficulties will be spontaneously outgrown. If, however, the child is doing poorly on many items, strategies can be implemented to help the child overcome and outgrow social difficulties. (AC)