Joshua H. Barnett

Joshua H. Barnett is the chief executive officer of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET), a not-for-profit organization that has trained and supported more than 30,000 teacher leaders over more than two decades. In this role, he works with school districts, states, and higher education institutions to improve educator effectiveness and student learning by investing in teacher leadership and building systems that enable teacher leaders to succeed. Prior to becoming CEO, Barnett served as NIET’s chief operating officer and senior vice president of research and evaluation, leading the organization’s research agenda and evidentiary work on its initiatives.

Barnett is the author of Unleashing Teacher Leadership: A Toolkit for Ensuring Effective Instruction in Every Classroom, published by ASCD in 2024, along with its accompanying ASCD study guide. He has coauthored research on teacher evaluation and alternative education and has published in outlets such as Phi Delta Kappan. Barnett earned his doctorate in education from the University of Arkansas and previously served as an assistant professor of education policy at Arizona State University.