Five University of Florida Early Childhood Care and Education Policy graduate students joined a cohort of scholars from partner institutions in the Early Childhood Policy in Institutions of Higher Education (ECPIHE) initiative from across the country at a 3-day Federal Policy Institute in Washington, DC to meet with early childhood policymakers and learn from national experts.
Through this experience, they learned about the historical context and evolution of early childhood policy, the major issues in the field of early childhood studies today, and how thought leaders are working to address these issues.
The ECPIHE institute brought together more than 35 graduate students and faculty from across the country. Students were joined by Early Childhood Policy Centers Collaborative (EPC-CC) leadership and partner faculty Chris Curran, Ph.D., Patricia Snyder, Ph.D., and Katy Chapman, Ph.D.
With approximately $500 thousand in external funding over the past several years, the ECP-CC leverages existing expertise while creating new synergies between UF centers and academic departments engaged in early childhood policy research and practice. With faculty from the Education Policy Research Center, Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies, and the Levin College of Law’s Center on Children and Families, the ECP-CC houses national leaders in the policy conversation around young children.
Programs offered through the ECP-CC include the UF Early Childhood Care and Education Policy Graduate Certificate and Master of Arts with an Early Childhood Policy Track, with current funding available for prospective students.
