Teaching Assistant Career Guide
Choosing to be a teacher’s assistant, is a great career choice if you enjoy working with kids. However, it takes more than just a love for children to be successful in this type of career. It also takes a lot of patience, tolerance, understanding, and — depending on the state — certain degrees, teaching experience, licenses, and certifications.
Colleges and universities provide a variety of programs to get an associate’s degree in early childhood development, assistant teaching, and other related educational areas that can qualify you for a rewarding career as a teacher’s assistant. These programs also include class-based internship programs for hands-on training and experience that allow you to get a feel for working with kids, as many states and schools require.
How to Become a Teacher’s Assistant
The typical route to follow in becoming a teacher’s assistant is:
Get an associate’s degree in assistant teaching, education, or other related subjects such as elementary education
Complete a teacher’s assistant internship to gain some experience
Take and pass the required exams in your state to receive a teacher’s assistant certification/licensure
Apply for your license as a teacher’s assistant
Apply for open positions as a teacher’s assistant that interests you
If you are considering becoming a teacher’s assistant this article will help you to understand what to expect and what is required as far as education, certificates, licenses, salaries, job duties, and more.
What will you do as a Teacher’s Assistant?
A teacher assistant supports the classroom teacher in a variety of ways. It is the teacher assistant’s job to take the load off the head-teacher and make it easier for them to spend more time and focus on teaching. Having a teacher’s assistant in the classroom is especially essential for classrooms that may be overpopulated or for special education kids.
The teacher’s assistant may spend a lot of their time doing clerical work as well as some instructional tasks or whatever the lead teacher needs done. They are there to assist the teacher and will perform various tasks under the teacher’s direction and in some situations where the lead teacher can’t be there, the teacher’s assistant may fill in for them.
Common Degree Requirements
Each state has their own requirements for becoming a teacher’s assistant. Charter and private schools may only require a teacher’s assistant to have a high school diploma where other schools may prefer you to have at least an associate’s degree, which is always better to have since it can improve your chances of landing the job you want.
In addition, if you earned credits while working on getting your associate’s degree, many schools have programs that will allow those credits to be transferred towards earning a bachelor’s degree to further your education even more and increase your chances at a better job or even allow you to become a lead teacher.
A federal mandate requires that all teacher’s assistants who are employed by Title I schools must hold a certificate as a teacher’s assistant and have a minimum two-year degree.
Although some states consider a teacher’s assistant to be the same as a teacher’s aide, in other states they are entirely different professions. They both work to assist the lead teacher in a classroom, however, a teacher’s assistant must be certified to be able to provide instructional support while a teacher’s aide typically only requires a high school diploma since their duties are non-professional and may consist of tending to children’s needs, test proctoring, classroom preparation, monitoring, and more.
Another major difference in these two professions is the salary; a teacher’s assistant earns an average annual salary of $25,000 where a teacher’s aide earns approximately $18,000.
Exams and Licenses
Each state has their own specific educational requirements for different positions, but in any state you will need to be certified in order to be a teacher’s assistant.
In New York — and most states — certified teacher’s assistants are known as Paraprofessionals. To qualify for certification, you must first take and pass the “New York State Assessment of Teaching Assistant Skills” test (NYSATAS) than complete the School Violence Prevention and Intervention, the Child Abuse Identification, and Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) workshops. After you have finished all that, you can then apply to the State Education Department for state certification as a Teaching Assistant. There are four levels of certification.
Other states may use the PRAXIS-para tests or other methods to certify teacher assistants, but you will need certification no matter which state you call home.
Teacher’s Assistant Salaries
Of course, a teacher’s assistant won’t make as much as a lead certified teacher, but they can look forward to a good job outlook.
According to 2016 data, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates the average teacher’s assistant’s annual salary nationally was $27,129 with 1,263,820 teacher’s assistants employed. Teacher’s assistants who worked in childcare type schools made the least wages by far with an annual average of $21,190 while the assistants who worked in public local elementary schools and high schools made an average annual salary of $26,140. Through 2024, these professionals can expect even more in job growth at a rising rate of 6%.
According to the Huffington Post, school administrators get paid more in Charter schools than the educators. Although they may be great to work at, private schools pay teacher’s assistant’s lower wages than the national average and public schools. This is due to funding. Public schools are funded with local, state, and federal tax dollars distributed through the government where private schools raise their own funds.
The average annual salary for teacher’s aides is $22,401, ranging from $21,540 to $26,070. There are many factors to consider when determining salary ranges such as degree/education, certifications, experience, school, location, and more.
Future Career Outlook
Ever since 2004, the overall job outlook for a career as a teacher’s assistant has been positive. Throughout that time, job openings for teacher’s assistants have increased by .53% throughout the nation, with an annual average growth of .09%.
From 2012 to 2020 the employment outlook growth projection is expected to increase by 8.6%. The demand for teacher’s assistants is expected to increase with an estimated 198,220 new jobs that are expected to be filled in the near future, which represents an increase of up to 1.98% annually over the coming years. The reason for this growth is the population increase. Thus, more students will be enrolling in schools everywhere.
Job Duties of a Teaching Assistant
Some of the main duties of a teacher’s assistant are as follows:
Take attendance
Oversee recess
Monitor the halls
Tend to the children’s needs
Oversee lunch
Grade papers
Keep records/take attendance
Create worksheets for the class
Print out documents
Relay messages to parents and/or other teachers
Help kids with special needs
Substitute when the lead teacher is not present
Set up equipment required for certain tasks
Work with a group in sessions
Prepare materials needed for the day
Order supplies
Assist with class projects
The requirements for New york city State Educating Assistant certification are available by means of the sticking to links and also Look Certification Requirements. If you have in fact never held a New York State Coach Aide Qualification, you should apply as well as fulfill the needs for a Level I Enlightening Assistant certificate. If you complete at least one year of training experience in New York State as a class teacher under a New york city State class advisor accreditation, you may remain to the Level III Training Aide certification.
Talking with others to share info effectively. Offering complete emphasis to what other individuals are saying, requiring time to identify the elements being made, asking worries as suitable, in addition to not interfering with at unsuitable times. Choosing as well as additionally taking advantage of training/instructional methods as well as therapies appropriate for the circumstance when finding out or educating new points.
Recruitment as well as option requirements for an individual state job need to be based upon the particular know-how, abilities, in addition to capabilities for that work as indicated in the job declaration and task recap in the Worker Work Account. The Understanding of: Ideas as well as methods for educational program along with training design, training as well as guideline for individuals in addition to groups, and additionally the measurement of training effects.
The Capacity to: Connect details as well as additional ideas in talking so others will absolutely recognize. Connect info as well as likewise suggestions in writing so others will understand. Talk plainly so others can identify you. Pay attention to and identify information as well as also concepts offered using spoken words as well as sentences. Testimonial as well as also understand details in addition to recommendations provided in composing.
Focus on a singular source of sound in the exposure of different other disruptive audios. Generate a number of ideas regarding a topic (the variety of concepts is necessary, not their high quality, accuracy, or imagination). Inform when something is wrong or is likely to fail. It does not involve addressing the issue, just determining there is a problem.
Monitor trainees in classrooms, halls, lunchrooms, schoolyards, as well as gyms, or on area journeys. Conduct discussions to enlighten such abilities as sporting activities, dance, and also developments. Distribute mentor materials such as publications, workbooks, papers, as well as also pencils to pupils. Distribute tests as well as likewise research projects, as well as likewise gather them when they are completed. Apply administration plans and also guidelines regulating students.
Like individuals, careers have top qualities or attributes. These high qualities use important suggestions concerning the nature of the job and additionally work environment, as well as supply you a chance to match your own specific rate of interests to a detailed profession. When you select a job in an occupation that matches your very own enthusiasm you have in fact taken an important action in intending a reliable and likewise satisfying task.
These lines of work commonly consist of aiding or giving service to others. Standard Requirement kind of work often involves complying with set therapies along with regimens. These professions can contain working together with information as well as details above with concepts. Normally there is a clear line of authority to comply with. Commonly this is not needed for Instructor Aide placements in state federal government.
Educational demands for instructor assistants vary by State or university location as well as array from a high institution diploma to some college training, although firms progressively pick candidates with some university training. Educator aides with instructional responsibilities generally need even more training than do those that do not perform training jobs. In enhancement, as a result of the No Young Person Left Act of 2001, instructor assistants in Title 1 schools those with a massive proportion of pupils from low-income households will be called for to satisfy among three needs: have a minimum of 2 years of university, hold a 2-year or better level, or pass a comprehensive state in addition to neighborhood evaluation.
Some colleges may call for the candidate to pass a history check. A number of 2-year as well as area colleges supply associate level programs that prepare grads to function as instructor assistants. Nonetheless, most instructor assistants get on-the-job training. Proficiencies are a set of determined activities, proficiency, abilities, along with capacities that straight and favorably influence the success of staff members and the organization.
When regularly shown, efficiencies make staff members especially efficient in their work. Experiences assist laid out a strategy to line up work success. You can use the Republic Competencies to assist boost your private effectiveness by welcoming practices that make high carrying out workers efficient in their jobs. By doing this, you can make use of the Republic Competencies for your more specialist growth.
They can be rank-ordered by companies along with collaborating with supervisors to stand for the demands of a specific task. The rank acquiring will certainly change relying on the career, a firm's top concerns, the genuine task needs, and additionally the supervisor's selections. Career success is both concerning what you do (using your technological know-how, capabilities, and ability) and also specifically just how you do it (the regular practices you reveal and also choose to utilize) while interacting as well as getting in touch with others.
For the proficiencies, we originally list the expertises and also afterwards define each. Eventually, we provide competence indications; to describe what effective effectiveness looks like. Career possibilities in the Commonwealth are not limited to rising to the following highest possible task as well as likewise pay band, altering setups, or to winding up being a manager.
The Instructor as well as Instructor II duty offers 2 different career tracks for technical teachers and teachers responsible for supplying a variety of training, guidelines along with pupil options to employees, students, and/or customers. The Instructor as well as Fitness instructor III role gives job tracks for the employee executing at the ingenious degree of experience.
A teaching assistant is a student, teacher, or school administrator who aids a teacher in teaching tasks. Most often they are in charge of handling the child care duties, but they can also perform other duties such as grading papers, keeping files, and other clerical functions.
A teaching assistant can be found at schools in a variety of capacities. Some may only have the ability to handle the child care and transportation duties while others will have a wide range of responsibilities. The type of position you choose depends on the level of responsibility you want and the area of the school. In addition, some schools hire assistants from other areas.
One of the most important requirements for a teaching assistant is having the ability to communicate well with students. They also need to have good listening skills. This allows them to better understand the needs of the students. Their communication skills will also allow them to interact with parents, faculty, and other employees of the school. Because of this they need to know how to properly carry themselves during these interactions.
School administrators will often hire a teaching assistant to assist with school-related work, such as taking notes during class and helping with homework. If you are looking for a job as a teaching assistant, you may need a high school diploma, or equivalent. Most schools require you to have completed a minimum number of hours as a high school senior. You should take time to explore your options and find out what jobs are available in your area. You may even be required to have a particular amount of experience in order to be considered for a position.
For those who are considering a career in this field, there are several different things that you should take into consideration when you are preparing your teaching assistant requirements. Many times you may need to obtain letters of recommendation from former or current teachers who you consider to be an asset to your career. It may also be beneficial to take a formal college or university level course in order to show prospective employers that you have a thorough understanding of the curriculum. In addition, you may need to demonstrate your ability to read materials and perform simple administrative duties by completing a short report.
The requirements that you need to fulfill will depend on the specific position you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a position as a teacher assistant for an elementary school then you will need to meet a number of different requirements. These requirements include completing a basic level of education and passing all state tests and requirements. As an assistant, it is also necessary to have an understanding of basic math skills. When you are hired, you may be expected to have the ability to help with the daily administration of the classroom or work with the students who are enrolled in the class.
A number of colleges and universities offer courses that prepare aspiring teachers for their teaching positions. Some of these courses are geared toward becoming a teacher, while others focus on the administrative side of the profession. You will also need to pass a written and oral test before you can receive your teaching license. Once you are certified, you will have to prove that you have the ability to administer a variety of duties related to school teaching.
There are many schools that provide courses to teach you how to fulfill your teaching assistant requirements. You may be able to attend one of these courses online so that you have the flexibility of working when you wish. The main thing to keep in mind is that you need to have a desire to learn in order to succeed in this field. You may also need to have some sort of certification if you wish to teach in a more advanced or specialized setting.
Useful Skills and Certifications
Typically a teacher assistant will possess the same skills and qualities as a lead teacher. The following are just some of the most important skills and attributes a teacher’s assistant should have:
Patience – Especially if you are working with young children. In fact, the younger the child, the lower their attention span, and the more patience you’ll need.
A passion to teach – If you don’t have this characteristic you really should consider another profession because this is the main goal of both teachers and their assistants.
Flexibility – To be a teacher’s assistant you will be performing numerous tasks that involve skills that are clerical, instructional, physical, mental, and more.
Clerical skills – You will need to know how to use a printer to print out worksheets and fliers, grade papers, record data like attendance records, and more.
Knowledge of state content standards – Because teacher’s assistants help with lesson planning, equipment setup, grading papers, and material requisitions you will need to know the level of learning the state standards set for the grade level you work with.
Experience working with kids – Most colleges have internship programs for teacher’s assistants to gain some experience working in a classroom with kids, and you’ll need the experience.
Depending on the state, school, and other factors, Teacher's Aides may be required to have additional training or a paraprofessional certificate. Title I schools require all teacher assistants to have proven academic skills and college training. Teacher's Aides in these schools must have an Associate's Degree or a Paraprofessional Certificate. Earning a paraprofessional certificate requires 48 college semester hours and the ability to assist in teaching reading, writing, math, and more.