Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between early childhood education instructors and special educators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a special educator has an average salary of $53,565, which is higher than the $41,294 average annual salary of an early childhood education instructor.
The top three skills for an early childhood education instructor include autism, childhood education and child development. The most important skills for a special educator are autism, student learning, and math.
| Early Childhood Education Instructor | Special Educator | |
| Yearly salary | $41,294 | $53,565 |
| Hourly rate | $19.85 | $25.75 |
| Growth rate | -6% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 68,342 | 62,545 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
With love for children, an early childhood education instructor helps children reach their optimum intelligence and healthy physique level. They develop programs that help children develop skills appropriate for age and development. Through these programs, they can observe for any developmental delays and behavioral problems of children. Instructors can tell the parents their observations and assist in looking for suitable solutions. They work alongside nurses, social workers, and parents to better all children and their health.
A special education teacher's role is to facilitate learning for students with disabilities. The responsibilities of a special education teacher typically revolve around identifying the needs of students, devising lesson plans and strategies to meet their needs, developing test structure to assess their learning, and assisting them in areas of difficulties. It is also essential to coordinate with families and guardians, reporting to them should there be any problems. Furthermore, as a special education teacher, it is necessary to monitor the students' progress and behavior, maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for them.
Early childhood education instructors and special educators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Early Childhood Education Instructor | Special Educator | |
| Average salary | $41,294 | $53,565 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $57,000 | Between $38,000 And $75,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | Oceanside, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Northwestern University | Capistrano Unified |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Government |
There are a few differences between an early childhood education instructor and a special educator in terms of educational background:
| Early Childhood Education Instructor | Special Educator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Early Childhood Education | Special Education |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between early childhood education instructors' and special educators' demographics:
| Early Childhood Education Instructor | Special Educator | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 5.8% Female, 94.2% | Male, 21.3% Female, 78.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.8% Asian, 6.0% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 3.6% White, 71.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 8% |