Overview This Assessment is a Work Product in which you will research pressing issues in the early childhood field and select one that you are particularly interested in, one for which you have a desire to generate awareness and bring about change. With this issue in mind, you will prepare a communication piece for policymakers or stakeholders to begin the change process. After you receive a response, you will reflect on your efforts to communicate and collaborate with policy-makers and/or stakeholders. Your response to this Assessment should: Reflect the criteria provided in the Rubric, which provides information on how the Assessment will be evaluated. Adhere to the required Assignment length. Use the APA “Course Paper” template available here . Note: All submissions must follow the conventions of scholarly writing. Properly formatted APA citations and references must be provided where appropriate. Professional Skills: Written Communication , Critical Thinking , and Information Literacy are assessed in this Competency. You are strongly encouraged to use the Writing Checklist and to review the rubric prior to submitting. This Assessment requires submission of one (1) document that includes all three parts of this Assessment. Save this file as RC004_firstinitial_lastname (for example, RC004_J_Smith). If you choose to create a PowerPoint for Part II, you may submit two files in total, one Word document and one PowerPoint. When you are ready to upload your completed Assessment, use the Assessment tab on the top navigation menu. Instructions Before submitting your Assessment, carefully review the rubric. This is the same rubric the assessor will use to evaluate your submission and it provides detailed criteria describing how to achieve or master the Competency. Many students find that understanding the requirements of the Assessment and the rubric criteria help them direct their focus and use their time most productively. Rubric Access the following to complete this Assessment: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (n.d.). Public policy and advocacy. Retrieved March 11, 2019, from https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/public-policy-advocacy Ounce of Prevention Fund. (2009). Early childhood advocacy toolkit. Retrieved from  https://www.theounce.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/EarlyChildhoodAdvocacyToolkit.pdf Trend Lines. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://blog.childtrends.org UNICEF. (n.d.). Current issues. Retrieved January 29, 2020, from https://www.unicef.org/media/current-issues ZERO TO THREE. (2010). You have what it takes! A tool for identifying your skills as an early childhood advocate [Interactive media]. Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/action-center/advocacy-tool-final-9-7-10.pdf This assessment has three-parts.  Click each of the items below to complete this assessment. Part I: Research Brief Select a topic of interest. What current problems, policies, or .

1. Overview
This Assessment is a Work Product in which you will research
pressing issues in the early childhood field and select one that
you are particularly interested in, one for which you have a
desire to generate awareness and bring about change. With this
issue in mind, you will prepare a communication piece for
policymakers or stakeholders to begin the change process. After
you receive a response, you will reflect on your efforts to
communicate and collaborate with policy-makers and/or
stakeholders.
Your response to this Assessment should:
Reflect the criteria provided in the Rubric, which provides
information on how the Assessment will be evaluated.
Adhere to the required Assignment length.
Use the APA “Course Paper” template available
here
.
Note:
All submissions must follow the conventions of scholarly
writing. Properly formatted APA citations and references must
be provided where appropriate.
Professional Skills:
Written Communication
,

2. Critical Thinking
, and
Information Literacy
are assessed in this Competency. You are strongly encouraged
to use the
Writing Checklist
and to review the rubric prior to submitting.
This Assessment requires submission of one (1) document that
includes all three parts of this Assessment. Save this file as
RC004_firstinitial_lastname
(for example, RC004_J_Smith). If you choose to create a
PowerPoint for Part II, you may submit two files in total, one
Word document and one PowerPoint. When you are ready to
upload your completed Assessment, use the
Assessment
tab on the top navigation menu.
Instructions
Before submitting your Assessment, carefully review the rubric.
This is the same rubric the assessor will use to evaluate your
submission and it provides detailed criteria describing how to
achieve or master the Competency. Many students find that
understanding the requirements of the Assessment and the
rubric criteria help them direct their focus and use their time
most productively.
Rubric
Access the following to complete this Assessment:
National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC). (n.d.). Public policy and advocacy. Retrieved March

3. 11, 2019, from
https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/public-policy-advocacy
Ounce of Prevention Fund. (2009). Early childhood advocacy
toolkit. Retrieved from
https://www.theounce.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/03/EarlyChildhoodAdvocacyToolkit.pdf
Trend Lines. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://blog.childtrends.org
UNICEF. (n.d.). Current issues. Retrieved January 29, 2020,
from
https://www.unicef.org/media/current-issues
ZERO TO THREE. (2010). You have what it takes! A tool for
identifying your skills as an early childhood advocate
[Interactive media]. Retrieved from
http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/action-
center/advocacy-tool-final-9-7-10.pdf
This assessment has three-parts. Click each of the items below
to complete this assessment.
Part I: Research Brief
Select a topic of interest.
What current problems, policies, or issues affect the health,
safety, or education of young children and families? Which of
these issues are of greatest interest to you? Perhaps you are
concerned about the increased focus on high-stakes testing in
primary grades, the lack of opportunity for young children to
engage in creative and experiential play, or the need to increase
children’s access to books in the home. Explore the web

4. resources provided with the Assessment and/or other resources
to gain information and insights on pressing issues, needs, and
challenges that affect children and families.
Based on your initial exploration, select a topic of interest, one
for which you want to advocate for action that can positively
impact the lives of children and families. With this issue in
mind, continue exploring reputable resources and investigate
advocacy organizations and initiatives that are already in place.
Consider how this issue relates to your sphere of influence
(e.g., workplace, local community, state, national, global level)
and what actions you might take to promote positive changes
within this sphere.
Based on your exploration, prepare a 2- to 3-page Research
Brief as follows:
Describe the advocacy issue/challenge/need and its impact on
children and families.
Include a synopsis of major, compelling research findings that
support your position on the cause for which you want to
advocate.
Explore local, regional, state, national, and/or global advocacy
efforts that have been devoted to this issue. Identify one or
more organizations and describe their work in supporting the
advocacy issue.
After reading about how established organizations have
advocated for your issue, describe an initiative of your own that
could further your cause. Your initiative should be one that you
can spearhead within your sphere of influence. Your initiative
might involve activities that will increase awareness, educate
others, change a policy, bring in resources to your workplace,

5. start a community project, create a service to families, or any
other forms of advocacy.
State
at least two
measureable goals that you believe can be achieved within the
next six months to a year.
Include specific action steps you plan to take and a timeline for
implementation.
Identify any roadblocks you anticipate and plans to overcome
them.
Identify
one or more
policymakers or stakeholders to whom you will communicate
your advocacy initiative.
Explain the purpose of your communication to these
stakeholders.
Part II: Communication to Policymakers or Stakeholders
Determine whether your communication will be to policymakers
or stakeholders. Consider what you know about this audience
and, thus, what type of information and messages would best
capture their hearts, minds, and interests about the
issue/challenge/need you chose. Then, determine how best to
present this information (e.g., PowerPoint presentation, letter,
speech, video, proposal, historical timeline, report with
statistics, etc.)

6. With these ideas in mind, prepare your communication piece
and then either meet with your audience face to face or send the
communication to your audience via e-mail or other means. If
you meet with your audience, be sure to engage in dialogue and
solicit their responses to the information, messages, and appeals
for help. If you send the communication via e-mail or other
means, request a response in writing, a phone call, or other
form. You will submit your communication piece with this
assessment. If it is a PowerPoint, video, or oral presentation,
you will submit it as a separate file when you submit the
Assessment.
Your communication should include:
Statement of issue/challenge/need being addressed
Brief explanation of the research you found
Description of the initiative you are spearheading and a
rationale for its importance
Initiation of dialogue or an appeal for support
Request for a response
Proposal of next steps
Part III: Summary and Next Steps
Once you have received responses from policymakers or
stakeholders, reflect on your experience and write a 2- to 3-page
summary. Your summary should:

7. Describe your experience in delivering your communication to
policymakers or stakeholders. What worked well? What could
you have done differently to better communicate the issue or to
better position your intentions related to advocacy?
Describe in detail the responses you received from individuals
to who you delivered the communication. What did you learn?
Explain how the responses serve to support or present
challenges to your advocacy initiative.
Determine
at least three
action steps for continuing your advocacy efforts (e.g.,
responding to one or both of the stakeholder groups,
communicating with other stakeholders, organizing for action,
conducting further research, etc.)
https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/public-policy-advocacy
https://www.theounce.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/03/EarlyChildhoodAdvocacyToolkit.pdf
https://www.childtrends.org/blog/
https://www.unicef.org/media/current-issues
http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/action-
center/advocacy-tool-final-9-7-10.pdf