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The differences between early childhood specialists and teacher assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an early childhood specialist has an average salary of $35,575, which is higher than the $27,103 average annual salary of a teacher assistant.
The top three skills for an early childhood specialist include professional development, technical assistance and staff development. The most important skills for a teacher assistant are CPR, child care, and mathematics.
| Early Childhood Specialist | Teacher Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $35,575 | $27,103 |
| Hourly rate | $17.10 | $13.03 |
| Growth rate | 15% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 33,451 | 77,358 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 40 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 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.
Teacher assistants are responsible for aiding teachers in their needs inside the classroom. They help teachers prepare for lessons in class, set up equipment, distribute educational materials to students, and monitor the progress of the students. Teacher assistants also help in managing the children in the classroom, as well as providing the necessary assistance a child may need. This may include helping with the lessons by going table to table, assisting in writing exercises, and tutoring kids one-to-one. Teacher assistants are required to have patience, flexibility, and classroom management skills.
Early childhood specialists and teacher assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Early Childhood Specialist | Teacher Assistant | |
| Average salary | $35,575 | $27,103 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $50,000 | Between $21,000 And $34,000 |
| Highest paying City | Harrison, NY | Coventry, RI |
| Highest paying state | New York | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between an early childhood specialist and a teacher assistant in terms of educational background:
| Early Childhood Specialist | Teacher Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Early Childhood Education | Psychology |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Duke University |
Here are the differences between early childhood specialists' and teacher assistants' demographics:
| Early Childhood Specialist | Teacher Assistant | |
| Average age | 40 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 12.8% Female, 87.2% | Male, 21.5% Female, 78.5% |
| 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, 10.2% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 7.8% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 6% |