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The differences between early childhood teachers and elementary educators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an elementary educator has an average salary of $38,957, 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 elementary educator are mathematics, math, and elementary education.
| Early Childhood Teacher | Elementary Educator | |
| Yearly salary | $33,205 | $38,957 |
| Hourly rate | $15.96 | $18.73 |
| Growth rate | 15% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 56,821 | 32,900 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 40 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | - |
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.
An Elementary Educator is mainly responsible for teaching basic academics among children while facilitating their social skills development. They are in charge of developing lesson plans and learning materials, organizing individual and group activities, creating quizzes and tests, utilizing audio and visual equipment, and developing strategies to meet the students' needs. They also monitor the students' academic progress and behavior, updating parents or guardians regularly. Moreover, an Elementary Educator develops various learning approaches while maintaining a safe and healthy classroom environment for everyone.
Early childhood teachers and elementary educators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Early Childhood Teacher | Elementary Educator | |
| Average salary | $33,205 | $38,957 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $48,000 | Between $26,000 And $56,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Governors State University | Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES |
| Best paying industry | - | Education |
There are a few differences between an early childhood teacher and an elementary educator in terms of educational background:
| Early Childhood Teacher | Elementary Educator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Early Childhood Education | Elementary Education |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between early childhood teachers' and elementary educators' demographics:
| Early Childhood Teacher | Elementary Educator | |
| Average age | 40 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 7.6% Female, 92.4% | Male, 20.2% Female, 79.8% |
| 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, 9.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 3.7% White, 69.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 9% |