What Should Nancy Do? Developing an Assessment of Preschool Socioemotional Abilities

4 Introduction5 Development of the Measure 23 Methods45 Results58 Discussion71 Works Cited 88 Appendices 100 What should Nancy do? A Preschool Socioemotional Assessment 3 Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank Professor Anna Shusterman. The experiences and guidance you have provided me have shaped my experience at Wesleyan. Your passion for your work is infectious, and your continual belief in me encourages me to reach higher and work harder. I am honored to have you as an advisor and mentor. Thank you to Craig Bailey and Kristen Dunfield for their support and advice in the development of this project. Thank you to Professor Steven Stemler for being my second reader and for teaching me that statistics can be fun. Thank you to the Blue Lab for the support, the laughs, and the potlucks. A special thank you to Maddy Barclay for your advice, thesis and otherwise, and for putting up with me when I was in lab all day. A million thanks to Sara Dean for being my incredible research assistant and bringing light, happiness, and singing to early morning preschool visits. Your patience with the children, and all too often with me in a panic, is never-ending. Thank you Lydia Tonkonow for being the incredible artist that you are and creating a beautiful measure for this study. I truly could not have done it without you. Thank you to the preschools, teachers, and families who participated in this study. Thanks to all my wonderful, incredible friends who supported me in every possible way and put up with my incessant talk about preschool emotions. Thank you especially to the many friends who graciously edited my chapters. Lastly, thank you to my family. Thank you for being the voice at the other end of the phone, even when you had no idea what I was talking about. Your advice, in all the forms it takes, has helped me through not just this year but the 21 previous years as well. What should Nancy do? A Preschool Socioemotional Assessment 4