EDL 583 is designed to provide a foundational knowledge of the fundamentals of policy creation, design, and development, with an emphasis on those policies that impact early childhood education and care (ECEC). The course addresses the critical roles that communication, advocacy, and ethics play as policy evolves; the multiple venues and processes for creating public policies; different types of public ECEC funding; federal, state, and local policy roles; considerations of ethics and leadership from public policy and ECEC perspectives; and the development of policy advocacy communications skills.