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The differences between early childhood specialists and early childhood special educators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an early childhood specialist and an early childhood special educator. Additionally, an early childhood special educator has an average salary of $36,798, which is higher than the $35,575 average annual salary of an early childhood specialist.
The top three skills for an early childhood specialist include professional development, technical assistance and staff development. The most important skills for an early childhood special educator are autism, classroom management, and CPR.
| Early Childhood Specialist | Early Childhood Special Educator | |
| Yearly salary | $35,575 | $36,798 |
| Hourly rate | $17.10 | $17.69 |
| Growth rate | 15% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 33,451 | 62,487 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Average age | 40 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An early childhood specialist is responsible for managing the activities of young learners, monitoring their learning development, and designing engaging activities to observe their personal and social behaviors. Early childhood specialists assist the parents and the teachers of a child with administering programs that would expose their skills and their ability to solve basic problem-solving tasks. They coordinate with the parents to provide them progress updates and adjust learning strategies as needed depending on the child's performance.
Early childhood special educators are professionals who provide direct services for infants and young children that are experiencing delays in their development. These educators are required to collaborate with parents to provide a program of activities that can encourage the growth of the children's skills. By incorporating the advice of other professionals, early childhood special educators must create individual education plans that address the specific learning challenges of children. They must also identify signs of child abuse and neglect so that they can take the necessary actions to remediate the situation.
Early childhood specialists and early childhood special educators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Early Childhood Specialist | Early Childhood Special Educator | |
| Average salary | $35,575 | $36,798 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $50,000 | Between $23,000 And $58,000 |
| Highest paying City | Harrison, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood | Baltimore City Public Schools |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Education |
There are a few differences between an early childhood specialist and an early childhood special educator in terms of educational background:
| Early Childhood Specialist | Early Childhood Special Educator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Most common major | Early Childhood Education | Early Childhood Education |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between early childhood specialists' and early childhood special educators' demographics:
| Early Childhood Specialist | Early Childhood Special Educator | |
| Average age | 40 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 12.8% Female, 87.2% | Male, 7.1% Female, 92.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 5.6% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 3.7% White, 70.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 8% |