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The differences between early childhood specialists and early childhood teachers 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 teacher. Additionally, an early childhood specialist has an average salary of $35,575, which is higher than the $33,205 average annual salary of an early childhood teacher.
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 teacher are CPR, child development, and professional development.
| Early Childhood Specialist | Early Childhood Teacher | |
| Yearly salary | $35,575 | $33,205 |
| Hourly rate | $17.10 | $15.96 |
| Growth rate | 15% | 15% |
| Number of jobs | 33,451 | 56,821 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| 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.
An early childhood teacher specializes in handling and teaching young learners as they prepare for their formal schooling stage. Their responsibilities revolve around addressing and meeting the needs of students, organizing recreational activities for learning processes, and devising strategies to help the learners with their interpersonal and emotional growth. Furthermore, as an early childhood teacher, it is essential to monitor the children's progress and provide updates to their parents, all while maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for everyone.
Early childhood specialists and early childhood teachers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Early Childhood Specialist | Early Childhood Teacher | |
| Average salary | $35,575 | $33,205 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $50,000 | Between $22,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | Harrison, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood | Governors State University |
| Best paying industry | Professional | - |
There are a few differences between an early childhood specialist and an early childhood teacher in terms of educational background:
| Early Childhood Specialist | Early Childhood Teacher | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| 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 teachers' demographics:
| Early Childhood Specialist | Early Childhood Teacher | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 12.8% Female, 87.2% | Male, 7.6% Female, 92.4% |
| 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, 8.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 5.4% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |