Early childhood teacher vs early childhood special educator

The differences between early childhood teachers 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 teacher and an early childhood special educator. Additionally, an early childhood special educator has an average salary of $36,798, which is higher than the $33,205 average annual salary of an early childhood teacher.

The top three skills for an early childhood teacher include CPR, child development and professional development. The most important skills for an early childhood special educator are autism, classroom management, and CPR.

Early childhood teacher vs early childhood special educator overview

	Early Childhood Teacher	Early Childhood Special Educator
Yearly salary	$33,205	$36,798
Hourly rate	$15.96	$17.69
Growth rate	15%	4%
Number of jobs	56,821	62,487
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	40	43
Years of experience	2	2

What does an early childhood teacher do?

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.

What does an early childhood special educator do?

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 teacher vs early childhood special educator salary

Early childhood teachers and early childhood special educators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Early Childhood Teacher	Early Childhood Special Educator
Average salary	$33,205	$36,798
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $48,000	Between $23,000 And $58,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	New York, NY
Highest paying state	New York	New Jersey
Best paying company	Governors State University	Baltimore City Public Schools
Best paying industry	-	Education

Differences between early childhood teacher and early childhood special educator education

There are a few differences between an early childhood teacher and an early childhood special educator in terms of educational background:

	Early Childhood Teacher	Early Childhood Special Educator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Early Childhood Education	Early Childhood Education
Most common college	Northwestern University	Northwestern University

Early childhood teacher vs early childhood special educator demographics

Here are the differences between early childhood teachers' and early childhood special educators' demographics:

	Early Childhood Teacher	Early Childhood Special Educator
Average age	40	43
Gender ratio	Male, 7.6% Female, 92.4%	Male, 7.1% Female, 92.9%
Race ratio	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%	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%

Differences between early childhood teacher and early childhood special educator duties and responsibilities

Early childhood teacher example responsibilities.

Design and apply activities to help children in achieving their goals and objectives in accordance with IFSP 's
Co-developed activities and art projects for development -ensure developmental milestones and on-track development for infants moving into the toddler room
Receive proficient training to become CPR certify.
Evaluate children's progress in meeting UPK standards.
Screen topics, compose PowerPoint presentations, and prepare teaching materials.
Implement the Montessori and UPK curriculum in children's daily activities.

Early childhood special educator example responsibilities.

Target at risk and high achieving students using levele readers and DRA strategies.
Collaborate with other Pre-K teachers to plan and team-teach with a multicultural focus.
Develop IFSP's design to promote students' educational, physical, or social needs.
Assist in other classrooms as needed, from infants to pre-k, to help gain knowledge of children of all ages.
Adapted/Individualize curriculum base on individual student needs, including all need self-help skills.
Develop IEP objectives consistent with daily instruction as provided, base on developmentally appropriate activities.

Early childhood teacher vs early childhood special educator skills

Common early childhood teacher skills

CPR, 21%
Child Development, 15%
Professional Development, 8%
Classroom Environment, 7%
Classroom Management, 5%
ECE, 4%

Common early childhood special educator skills

Autism, 9%
Classroom Management, 9%
CPR, 8%
Child Development, 6%
IEP, 5%
Child Care, 5%

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Early Childhood Teacher vs Early Childhood Special Educator

Updated January 8, 2025

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