Teachers as Change Agents: An Exploration of Distributed Leadership in Early Care and Education Settings

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: Topics Affecting Early Childhood Teachers, Children, and Families (San Diego)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to (1) describe current research on distributed leadership in early care and education (ECE) and its potential benefits, including its role in quality improvement, and (2) report findings from a study of distributed leadership in ECE settings. The paper defines distributed leadership in ECE and presents findings from a study of a quality improvement methodology, the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC), implemented with seven ECE centers in one urban community. Results show how the BSC supported development of distributed leadership, how administrative leaders facilitated distributed leadership in their programs, and how teachers engaged as change agents. The paper concludes with implications for further research on distributed leadership and quality improvement in ECE settings and systems.

Authors

• Anne Douglass, University of Massachusetts - Boston

• Tamara Gail Halle, Early Childhood Research Child Trends

• Gretchen Kirby, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc

• Kerensa Nagle