Leading from the Classroom
By Amy Schmidtke, Mary Beth Pistillo, and Greta Morris
Leadership in early childhood education does not just come from front offices or district buildings. It comes from classroom teachers too (Douglass 2017; Cooper 2022). Every day, early childhood educators in prekindergarten-to-grade-3 settings lead through the relationships they build, the decisions they make, and the ways they collaborate with colleagues and families. This kind of leadership is not about titles or positions; it is about influence.
Research shows that teacher leadership rooted in daily practice and grounded in professional judgment can strengthen instruction, build professional collaboration, and improve outcomes across early grades (Nicholson et al. 2020; Schmidtke 2020; Cooper 2022). Teachers who are leaders act with agency to make thoughtful decisions, learn with others, and shape everyday practices in ways that support children and their colleagues (Schmidtke 2020; Cooper 2022). They engage in continuous, collaborative learning to inform their professional growth and development. This, in turn, allows them to effectively nurture young children’s learning and development (NAEYC 2020b; Schmidtke 2025).
However, opportunities to influence schoolwide decision making are often limited. While classroom teachers are central to implementing educational goals and building relationships with children and families, they are rarely invited into district or schoolwide planning. This disconnect between those making decisions and those implementing them can leave teachers feeling unheard, even when goals are shared (Loewenberg 2016; Douglass 2017).
We (the authors) are a leader (Amy), a facilitator (Mary Beth), and a storyteller (Greta) at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska. We are part of the institute’s Teacher Leadership Network, a cohort of educators in Omaha, Nebraska, that came together in 2024 to create opportunities for classroom teachers to lead together, learn from one another, and connect their daily practices to schoolwide improvement efforts. In this article, we explore the literature on teacher agency and teachers as leaders, then share the work we do to empower network participants to lead instructional and schoolwide improvement efforts from their classrooms. Leaning into these examples, we offer ways that educators across the prekindergarten-to-grade-3 age band can lead with agency to improve instruction and family engagement through deep collaboration with colleagues.
Understanding Teacher Leadership
In early childhood settings, leadership often grows out of everyday practice. Teachers lead when they share ideas with colleagues, reflect together on what children need, and help shape how teaching and learning unfold across a program. Rather than stepping away from the classroom to fill formal leadership positions, educators can contribute to broader school improvement efforts while maintaining their teaching responsibilities (Cheung et al. 2018; Cooper 2022). These include making thoughtful instructional decisions, supporting colleagues’ learning, and helping connect classroom practices to shared goals (Cheung et al. 2018).
National frameworks echo this understanding of leadership as a natural extension of teaching. The Teacher Leader Model Standards, for example, recognizes that leadership takes many forms and is often distributed across educators rather than concentrated in a single individual. Such leadership encompasses teaching practices that include fostering collaboration, facilitating professional learning, improving instruction and assessment, partnering with families and communities, and advocating for children and the profession (Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium 2011).
Research examining how teachers enact their leadership roles helps bring the standards to life. For example, Dagen and colleagues (2017) found that educators certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards frequently engage in leadership by mentoring colleagues, facilitating professional learning, and strengthening collaboration within their schools. These actions emerge directly from teachers’ daily work and their deep understanding of children and classroom contexts.
Together, these perspectives illuminate teacher leadership as relational, practice-based, and grounded in collaboration. Leadership flourishes when teachers are trusted to exercise their professional judgment, supported to learn alongside colleagues, and invited to influence practice beyond their own classrooms. This understanding provides a foundation for exploring how teacher leadership and agency can be intentionally nurtured through local, state, or national efforts.
Agency in the Classroom Setting
As educators learn that they do not have to leave the classroom to lead, they begin to build influence through their teaching, strengthen collaboration through communities of practice, and deepen leadership through family partnerships. This aligns with evidence-based leadership models (Schmidtke 2020; Cooper 2022) and also mirrors what research has shown: Educational improvement efforts are most effective when teachers have the agency to intentionally contribute to their design and delivery (Douglass 2017; Nicholson et al. 2020).
Agency refers to a person’s ability to make choices and influence events. In early childhood settings, children exercise agency when they make choices during play, explore ideas, and take an active role in their learning (NAEYC 2020a). Teachers exercise agency when they act on their professional judgment and make decisions in the best interests of children. This might include knowing when to follow a child’s idea, when to step in with a question, and when to make space for exploration and peer interaction (Loewenberg 2016; Douglass 2017). Such moment-to-moment decisions are grounded in teachers’ knowledge of child development, relationships with families, and understanding of their classroom contexts.
The Teacher Leadership Network began in 2024 to put these ideas about teacher leadership and agency into action. It currently brings together prekindergarten-through-grade-3 teachers from nine Omaha area school districts to strengthen their leadership and expand their roles in school planning and improvement. Informed by the Whole Leadership Framework (Abel et al. 2017), the Teacher Leadership Network emphasizes collaboration and shared decision making that keep leaders close to children’s daily experiences (see “Teacher Leadership Network at a Glance” below). The network works to deepen educators’ understanding of how early learning, family partnership, and access to strong instruction are key pieces of ensuring that all students have the opportunity to thrive. This is particularly important for children whose learning experiences are shaped by their culture, language, abilities, and family and community backgrounds and who may benefit from individualized supports that ensure meaningful access, participation, and a strong sense of belonging in early learning settings.
Evidence shows that when classroom educators have structured opportunities to lead, reflect, and collaborate on the systems that shape their practice, they benefit. Our network participants have reported increased confidence in their leadership, stronger collaboration with colleagues, and a clearer understanding of how their classroom practices connect to schoolwide goals (Munroe Meyer Institute 2025).
Teacher Leadership Network at a Glance
The Teacher Leadership Network grew out of a simple but powerful realization: To strengthen early learning in schools, we must include the people who work and connect with children and families every day—their teachers.
Across the Omaha metropolitan area, educators were implementing the School as Hub for Early Learning approach, which organizes schools as strong, connected communities for children, families, and educators from birth through grade 3 (Buffett Early Childhood Institute 2025). Its purpose is to align systems, strengthen relationships, and ensure that every child experiences a continuous pathway of high-quality learning (Abel et al. 2017). But making that vision real requires leadership at all levels, and one essential perspective was often missing: The classroom teacher.
The Teacher Leadership Network positions teachers as essential partners in planning and decision making alongside principals, home visitors, family facilitators, and others. Staff from the Buffett Early Childhood Institute create and facilitate workshops and site visits, provide individual coaching, and support network members. This includes answering their questions and ensuring their perspectives are integrated into the Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan, which aims to develop early childhood programs for young children living in poverty. Institute staff also provide support in collaborating with principals to develop the role of the teacher leader.
As the Teacher Leadership Network has grown, so has its reach. What began as a learning experience for individual teachers is now influencing how entire schools and districts think about early learning.
Creating Space for Teachers to Lead
When classroom teachers’ insights shape decision making, schools are more likely to introduce educational goals and strategic improvements in ways that last (Fullan 2016; Nicholson et al. 2020). In the following sections, we share the experiences of two network participants, Dr. Tanishia Jacobs and Ben Thomas. Their stories exemplify how professional learning transforms into professional leadership: Teachers test ideas with students, reflect with peers, and bring their learning back to the classroom to influence schoolwide practices. (For more stories, see “Additional Voices from the Network” below.)
Collaboration is Key
Dr. Tanishia Jacobs is a Title I teacher at Belleaire Elementary School in the Omaha area. She joined the Teacher Leadership Network because she wanted to strengthen collaboration among her colleagues at the school, which serves 328 children, pre-K to grade 6. She also wanted to hone her leadership skills and collaborate with educators across the Omaha metropolitan area.
Over time, Dr. Jacobs joined the network’s teacher-led planning committee, where she helped to shape learning sessions and site visits for both new and experienced participants. She also began facilitating professional development on early childhood practices for her school’s staff, and she worked with district administrators to ensure that early learning priorities were reflected in broader school improvement plans.
Owing to these experiences, Dr. Jacobs has been able to work with educators across the Omaha metro area to generate ideas to share with their individual school teams. For example, members participate in book discussions that stimulate conversation and provide ideas they can take back to their schools.
“I now have the language and research to discuss the importance of early childhood education and the tools to work toward opportunity and access for all students,” she says.
When teachers are invited into this kind of shared inquiry, collaboration becomes a driver of improvement. It strengthens relationships, builds common language, and supports shared decision making grounded in daily practice (Frey et al. 2006).
Bridging Early Childhood and Primary Grades
Ben Thomas is a prekindergarten teacher at Liberty Elementary School in Omaha. This Title I school serves 643 children, pre-K to grade 6. Mr. Thomas has 12 years of experience in early childhood education, is a Teach for America alumnus, and spent seven years working in the New York City area. He joined the Teacher Leadership Network to connect with district staff and other early childhood educators and now shares ways to apply developmentally appropriate strategies—like guided play and language-rich interactions—consistently across grade levels.
“I’ve exercised agency by using my voice during our school’s instructional leadership team meetings to consistently represent early childhood perspectives in schoolwide decisions,” he says. “Rather than waiting to be asked, I see it as my responsibility to ensure pre-K is included in conversations about curriculum, data, and school improvement.”
Mr. Thomas now leads grade-level meetings, mentors new teachers, and participates in his school leadership team. Through workshops and site visits, he sees how his work connects to the early childhood system as a whole. For example, collaboration with network members who teach different grades has highlighted the importance of maintaining continuity between grades, a key aspect of the superintendents’ plan.
“Collaborating more intentionally with other teams has helped me see our work as aligned rather than separate, and it’s strengthened how we support the whole child and family,” Mr. Thomas says. “Meetings are a space where teacher leaders share what’s happening in their schools, discuss district early childhood priorities, and problem solve around instruction, family engagement, and systems alignment.”
Educators’ efforts become more intentional and aligned when they work together on clear goals, reflect on evidence, and learn from one another (Frey et al. 2006). When collaboration becomes part of a school’s daily culture, teachers build shared responsibility for children’s learning and well-being, and leadership grows stronger.
Additional Voices from the Network
The following educators reflect how leadership that begins in the classroom grows outward, strengthening instruction, family partnerships, and school culture. Their experiences show that when teachers are trusted to lead, they do it thoughtfully, collaboratively, and with children at the center.
Kelly Carver-Clements, Melissa Yost, and Brianna Zillig, Ralston Public Schools
These Ralston educators teach second grade at Mockingbird Elementary, where they focused their leadership on strengthening partnerships with families. Recognizing the importance of reciprocal relationships, the team designed a set of family engagement activities for the school year. They then worked with teachers from other districts to share ideas and adapt activities to meet their communities’ needs. This demonstrates how collaboration among school districts can strengthen local practice. “Building strong relationships with families is at the heart of our work,” Melissa says. “Collaborating with educators from other districts gave us new ideas and perspectives that helped us strengthen our family engagement efforts and better support our students.”
Morgan Long, Westside Community Schools
By focusing on small instructional shifts that can lead to meaningful breakthroughs, Morgan Long, a K–5 special education teacher, created a collection of materials and tools to support children with different abilities, which she then shared with families. “Teaching thrives on curiosity, reflection, and collaboration,” she says. “Every child deserves support that allows them to fully engage in learning.”
Alana Johnston, Elkhorn Public Schools
In an effort to boost families’ voices and engagement, prekindergarten teacher Alana Johnston asked families to share an artifact from home that represented their child, an idea offered by another member of the network. During a family-educator conference, one of the families brought in their child’s favorite baby doll. The child’s mother shared that she used the doll to teach her daughter about compassion and caring for others. “I was amazed at how much thought they put into finding just the right artifact to describe their child,” Alana says.
When Teachers Lead, Everyone Thrives
Teacher leadership does not need to begin with a promotion or a new role. Rather, it can start with the daily work teachers do: Noticing what children need, adapting instruction, collaborating with families, and sharing ideas with colleagues. Meaningful improvement occurs when educators learn with and from one another and when teachers are trusted to lead change (Fullan 2016). Indeed, when schools create structures and supports that honor classroom educators’ expertise, the educators step forward as leaders in transformative ways. Schools become more cohesive, family partnerships deepen, and early learning goals move from district plans into daily practice.
In our context, classroom educators are now helping to shape school action plans, lead family engagement strategies, and bring playful, developmentally appropriate learning into daily instruction. Recognizing that classroom educators’ insights are essential to lasting improvement, leadership teams at several schools have expanded to include them. These shifts echo what Donohoo and Katz describe as collective efficacy, or the shared belief that by working together, educators can make a meaningful difference for children and families (2019).
Based on our work, here are three ways that classroom teachers, administrators, and districts can grow teacher agency and leadership from the inside out:
Look for ways to build influence. Leadership begins with small, thoughtful choices that improve children’s daily experiences and inspire colleagues to do the same. Administrators can make classroom-based sharing a regular part of meetings and prioritize the time devoted to teacher-led highlights. They can also encourage educators to
Share about a practice that sparked children’s curiosity or strengthened relationships
Invite a colleague from another classroom to observe for 10 minutes, then talk together about what they noticed and what they might try
Reflect on classroom observations of children’s learning and interactions to ground decisions in real experiences
Use communities of practice to strengthen collaboration. Leadership grows when educators have space to reflect with peers, see one another’s environments, and plan together (Wenger 1998; Schmidtke 2020). To encourage shared reflection, administrators and educators can
Bring together teachers, assistants, and leaders who work with different ages. This group can meet monthly for 30 minutes to share what’s working, to reflect, and to choose one idea to test.
Visit other sites. Administrators might consider providing coverage for one peer visit per semester.
Make learning visible. Educators can use a one-page template to write down goals, action steps, observations, and next steps. Not only will this capture ideas, it will make growth and achievements easier to share.
Deepen leadership through family partnerships. Family engagement and partnerships look different in every setting, but the goal is the same: To build reciprocal relationships that strengthen learning and belonging (NAEYC 2020b). Classroom teachers can be encouraged to
Share playful learning with children’s families. Teachers could send home an easy-to-implement activity that links to current classroom interests, such as a deck of math games, a story talk card, or a nature scavenger hunt. They could invite families to share how children engaged with the activity at home and use those insights to inform classroom planning.
Invite family feedback by providing a QR code, a brief reflection prompt, or a short note connected to classroom learning. Ask families what they are noticing at home, what questions they have, or what ideas they would like to see explored next. Bring these insights into team discussions and classroom planning, so family perspectives actively shape next steps.
Post photos or notes from families that show children learning at home, and share them in classroom newsletters or during meetings.
Funding Acknowledgment
The Teacher Leadership Network is made possible by funding received from the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties as part of the Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan. The Superintendents’ Plan is a collaborative effort of the 11 school districts in metropolitan Omaha, Nebraska, to develop programming for young children and families, especially those facing persistent economic and social challenges. This program has served thousands of students since its establishment in 2015.
About the Authors
Amy Schmidtke, EdD, is director of educational practice at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska. With more than 30 years of experience as an early childhood educator, instructional coach, and author, her work focuses on leadership for early learning and intentional teaching that blends child-guided exploration with purposeful adult support. aschmidtke@nebraska.edu
Mary Beth Pistillo, MS, is an early childhood specialist at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska. She has more than 35 years of experience as a preschool and kindergarten teacher, adjunct faculty member, training coordinator at the Nebraska Department of Education, and instructional coach.
Greta Morris is a public outreach communications specialist at the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska. Through media relations, storytelling, and strategic communications, she shares stories from educators and communities that build public understanding and support for early childhood initiatives. gretamorris@nebraska.edu
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Photographs: first photo, © Getty Images; second photo, courtesy of the authors
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