{"id":752,"date":"2025-09-12T17:14:51","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T17:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stg.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/?p=752"},"modified":"2025-09-12T22:31:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T22:31:45","slug":"inside-the-other-washington-a-transformative-week-in-early-childhood-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/inside-the-other-washington-a-transformative-week-in-early-childhood-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside (the other) Washington: A Transformative Week in Early Childhood Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the summer, a group of graduate students in early childhood policy stepped into the heart of our nation&#8217;s capital\u2014and into the heart of policymaking. As part of the Congressional Overview and Early Childhood Policy course, led by Professor Gail Joseph, students spent five packed days in Washington, D.C., gaining first-hand insight into how the federal government shapes the early learning landscape.<\/p>\n<p>From exploring how Congress really works to diving deep into partisanship, the appropriations process, and the intersection of media and politics, students heard directly from former political appointees, policy analysts, and communications strategists. They even had the rare opportunity to observe a bill markup led by Senator Elizabeth Warren and witness a live Senate vote from the gallery\u2014bringing civics to life in real time.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the Hill, students met with federal staff at the Administration for Children and Families to learn how policy translates into practice, and capped their experience with a visit to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to hear about their federal policy agenda and advocacy priorities.<\/p>\n<p>While a nine-hour airport delay on the return home tested everyone\u2019s stamina, the experience was still highly regarded. More than just a course, this immersive week built community, sparked curiosity, and grounded students in the federal policy systems that shape opportunities for young children, families, and educators.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"766\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/stg.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/group-picture-dc-766x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The group of graduate students in early childhood policy sitting with Gail Joseph on the steps of the capital building in Washington D.C.\" class=\"wp-image-758\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/group-picture-dc-766x1024.jpg 766w, https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/group-picture-dc-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/group-picture-dc-768x1027.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/group-picture-dc-1149x1536.jpg 1149w, https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/group-picture-dc-375x501.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/group-picture-dc-1200x1604.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/group-picture-dc.jpg 1430w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" \/><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the summer, a group of graduate students in early childhood policy stepped into the heart of our nation&#8217;s capital\u2014and into the heart of policymaking. As part of the Congressional Overview and Early Childhood Policy course, led by Professor Gail Joseph, students spent five packed days in Washington, D.C., gaining first-hand insight into how the federal government shapes the early learning landscape. From exploring how Congress really works to diving deep into partisanship, the appropriations process, and the intersection of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":759,"href":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions\/759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cecpe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}