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The differences between early childhood specialists and toddler 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 a toddler teacher. Additionally, an early childhood specialist has an average salary of $35,575, which is higher than the $30,703 average annual salary of a toddler teacher.
The top three skills for an early childhood specialist include professional development, technical assistance and staff development. The most important skills for a toddler teacher are child care, CPR, and customer service.
| Early Childhood Specialist | Toddler Teacher | |
| Yearly salary | $35,575 | $30,703 |
| Hourly rate | $17.10 | $14.76 |
| Growth rate | 15% | 15% |
| Number of jobs | 33,451 | 67,810 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| 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.
A toddler teacher is responsible for teaching young learners by administering physical care and monitoring their social and mental development. Toddler teachers prepare fun and engaging activities for the children and evaluate their behaviors and assess how they interact with the environment. They create lesson plans that adhere to the learners' appropriate curriculum, such as teaching them how to speak and count. A toddler teacher must comply with the safety guidelines to keep and promote a safe and healthy environment for everyone.
Early childhood specialists and toddler teachers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Early Childhood Specialist | Toddler Teacher | |
| Average salary | $35,575 | $30,703 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $50,000 | Between $23,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Harrison, NY | Santa Clara, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood | Columbia University in the City of New York |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between an early childhood specialist and a toddler teacher in terms of educational background:
| Early Childhood Specialist | Toddler Teacher | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Early Childhood Education | Early Childhood Education |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Fairfield University |
Here are the differences between early childhood specialists' and toddler teachers' demographics:
| Early Childhood Specialist | Toddler Teacher | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 12.8% Female, 87.2% | Male, 8.6% Female, 91.4% |
| 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, 8.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 6.1% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |