Teaching Policy Advocacy Through State Legislative and Local Ballot-Based Advocacy Assignments

Abstract This study describes the implementation of experiential policy advocacy assignments in a graduate social work policy practice course and evaluates the impact of these assignments on students' satisfaction and on their likelihood to engage in policy advocacy in the future. The results suggest that students are satisfied with their policy advocacy experiences and that they are more likely to engage in policy advocacy activities in the future. The implications of this study for policy practice instructors include expanding policy advocacy experiences available to students and provide as much classroom support as possible to encourage participation and to foster student empowerment.