Wentzel (2005) defines social competence as the achievement of context-specific social goals for self and others. Past research using Wentzel's theoretical perspective suggests that students' social motivation and their relationship with teachers and peers strongly influence academic performance and general adjustment to school (Juvonen & Wentzel, 1996). In physical education, students have more social opportunity than in others classes making it critical for physical educators to assess and teach social competence to students. Native American students are one of the most at-risk ethnicities in the US and have the highest dropout rate of any ethnic group. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate Native American students' social competence using the Children's Personal Social Development (CPSD) instrument, a survey designed for 3rd – 6th grade students and validate the instrument for use in a Native American population. The CPSD contains 24 items (“some kids help others that are having a hard time”) that students answer on a three point scale (really like me, sort of like me, not like me). Previous research using content validity measures, Rasch modeling, and conventional item analyses produced reliable and valid scores in a non-Native American sample. The participants in our study were (N=254) Native American students. Both genders were represented (n=137 girls, n=117 boys). With little research conducted on Native American students in physical education, validity and reliability measures were implemented to ensure the CPSD would produce reliable and valid scores. A principle components factor analysis was conducted to test for construct validity. Results suggested that 13 items met appropriate factor loading criteria (factor loadings greater .40 and only loaded once) generating one global construct (40% of the variance) for social behavior; therefore the other items were dropped from the analysis. A Cronbach alpha score of .92 suggested high internal consistency reliability for the instrument. A two-way MANOVA investigating differences among grades and between genders indicated main effects and an interaction (F(3, 236)=4.60, p<.01; partial eta squared; ç = .06) were present. Trends suggest that females (M=2.40, SD=.37) mostly displayed higher levels of social competence than males (M=2.28, SD=.41) and social competence decreased as grade level increased (3rd M=2.50, SD=.41; 4th M=2.29, SD=.31; 5thM=2.27, SD=.39; and 6th M=2.15, SD=.49). On average students reported “sort of” exhibiting appropriate social behaviors. Elementary physical educators must find ways to develop social competence in all students, especially males and students in the higher elementary grades.Keyword(s): elementary issues, multiculturalism/cultural diversity, physical education PK-12