How to hire a fifth grade teacher

How to hire a fifth grade teacher, step by step

Here's a step-by-step fifth grade teacher hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a fifth grade teacher job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new fifth grade teacher
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a fifth grade teacher do?

Post a fifth grade teacher job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the fifth grade teacher you need to hire. Certain fifth grade teacher roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a fifth grade teacher to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a fifth grade teacher that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of fifth grade teachers.

   Type of Fifth Grade Teacher	Description	Hourly rate
   Fifth Grade Teacher	Kindergarten and elementary school teachers prepare younger students for future schooling by teaching them basic subjects such as math and reading.	$14-31
   Language Arts Teacher	A language arts teacher is responsible for teaching the English language to the students, improving their written and oral English communication by sharing the best practices, conducting engaging lesson plans, assigning group activities, and providing comprehensive educational materials. Language arts teachers strictly adhere to the learning curriculum, as well as monitoring the students' progress through individual evaluation, identifying their areas of improvement, and adjust learning strategies to address the difficulties... Show more	$19-31
   ESL Teacher	An ESL teacher specializes in teaching the English language to non-native speakers of all ages, usually in a virtual setting. Their responsibilities revolve around devising lesson plans, organizing learning materials, evaluating progress, and coming up with strategies to make learners feel comfortable... Show more	$19-32

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Classroom Management
   • Math
   • Classroom Environment
   • Language Arts
   • Learning Process
   • Instructional Materials
   • Social Studies Curriculum
   • Student Learning
   • Grade Curriculum
   • Professional Development Workshops
   • Learning Styles
   • State Standards
   • IEP
   • Student Performance

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Utilize PLC time to meet the needs of struggling and achieving students
   • Work with a large population of ESL and at risk students.
   • Participate in response to instruction (RTI) meetings to define strategies to assist specific students in grasping key concepts.
   • Adapt teaching methods and materials to meet students' varying needs and interests, create IEP's for entire classroom population.
   • Integrate interventions and implement RTI strategies within curriculum.
   • Modify the general education curriculum for special-needs students in mainstreaming math.

   More fifth grade teacher duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your fifth grade teacher job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A fifth grade teacher salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, fifth grade teachers' average salary in maine is 52% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level fifth grade teachers earn 52% less than senior-level fifth grade teachers.
   • Certifications. A fifth grade teacher with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a fifth grade teacher's salary.

   Average fifth grade teacher salary

   $45,802yearly

   $22.02 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level fifth grade teacher salary

   $31,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average fifth grade teacher salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$60,839	$29
   2	District of Columbia	$57,666	$28
   3	New Jersey	$55,973	$27
   4	California	$55,047	$26
   5	Maryland	$53,414	$26
   6	Connecticut	$53,158	$26
   7	Michigan	$47,734	$23
   8	Texas	$46,242	$22
   9	New Mexico	$44,724	$22
   10	Virginia	$43,310	$21
   11	Florida	$42,399	$20
   12	Illinois	$40,286	$19
   13	Colorado	$39,955	$19
   14	Utah	$39,247	$19
   15	North Carolina	$37,347	$18
   16	Arizona	$36,899	$18
   17	Nevada	$36,876	$18
   18	South Carolina	$36,507	$18
   19	Georgia	$36,455	$18

   Average fifth grade teacher salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Sidwell Friends School	$53,064	$25.51	4
   2	Alexandria City Public Schools	$52,769	$25.37
   3	Montgomery County Public Schools	$50,377	$24.22	11
   4	NORTH DAVIS PREPARATORY ACADEMY	$48,785	$23.45
   5	Quarry Lane School	$48,377	$23.26
   6	Campbell Co Schools	$47,058	$22.62	17
   7	district	$46,914	$22.55	12
   8	Winston Salem Forsyth County	$46,470	$22.34
   9	Oak Grove School	$46,293	$22.26	3
   10	Legacy Traditional Schools	$46,093	$22.16	16
   11	Julian Charter School	$44,586	$21.44	2
   12	Orange County High School	$42,503	$20.43	14
   13	The Walker School	$41,836	$20.11
   14	Bristol Public School District	$40,830	$19.63	17
   15	SunnyvaleSD	$40,692	$19.56	11
   16	Albuquerque Academy	$39,689	$19.08	90
   17	Jeffrey C Still Middle School	$39,467	$18.97	3
   18	Life School	$37,628	$18.09
   19	Wayne RESA	$36,397	$17.50	104
   20	Pueblo City-County Library District	$32,036	$15.40

4. Writing a fifth grade teacher job description

   A good fifth grade teacher job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a fifth grade teacher job description:

   Fifth grade teacher job description example

   + + Position Type:
   
   Elementary School Teaching/ Primary - Grades 1, 2, 3
   
   + Date Posted:
   
   8/30/2022
   
   + Location:
   
   Builta Elementary School
   
   + Date Available:
   
   08/2022
   
   + Closing Date:
   
   until filled
   
   Description: Perform functions to instruct students on established curriculum ensuring each individual is provided with the knowledge, proficiencies and experiences necessary to become successful contributing citizens in an ever-changing world. This assignment is approximatley 12 weeks
   
   Job Summary:
   
   1. Plan and instruct students on District and state standards aligned curriculum.2. Develop lesson plans and goals that meet District expectations.3. Enrich or modify lessons, curriculum, materials and resources as needed to meet individual student's needs and varying levels of progress.4. Conduct formal and informal assessments to evaluate student progress. Administer standardized assessments as directed. Interpret student assessment data for application of instructional methods and monitoring of student progress.5. Review student progress via assessments, maintain records of student work, and develop intervention strategies to ensure student success and growth.6. Communicate both verbally and in writing with parents and students on progress.7. Meet regularly and work collaboratively with other grade level or departmental teachers and support teachers to plan instruction across classrooms and to incorporate lessons across subjects.8. Meet regularly with support teachers, teacher assistants and specialists to discuss individual student's modifications or adaptations, ongoing learning issues, interventions or problems. Work collaboratively to ensure individual student's needs met.9. Assign work, instructions or lessons to student teachers and/or volunteers. Assess work, modify and provide regular feedback.10. Actively participate on various building and District teams or committees. Provide feedback and act as liaison to other building staff.11. Set clear expectations for class and manage classroom and school environment applying positive behavior supports and interventions as needed.12. Collaborate with other staff in planning, modifying, enhancing and implementing curriculum and school and district objectives.13. Establish a safe atmosphere conducive to a positive learning environment. Act as role model by encouraging appropriate behaviors that lead to social, emotional and physical development.14. Enforce and support school policies, philosophies and objectives with students and parents.15. Participate in staff development and school improvement activities in order to maintain professional growth. Plan and incorporate best practices or new strategies.16. Participate in events outside of the regularly scheduled work day such as orientation, open houses or conferences.
   
   Perform other related duties as assigned.
   
   Qualifications: The qualified candidate will have a valid Illinois Professional Educator License with either a K-9 self-contained endorsement, a 1-6 self-contained endorsement, or a Birth - Grade 3 endorsement.
   
   Rate of pay:Salary is commensurate with education and experience.
   
   Working Conditions:Elementary school.
   
   Selection Procedure:Qualified candidates will be contacted by the appropriate building administrator.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right fifth grade teacher for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your fifth grade teacher job on Zippia to find and recruit fifth grade teacher candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as k12jobspot, learn4good, serious teachers, teachingjobs.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting fifth grade teachers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new fifth grade teacher

   Once you've selected the best fifth grade teacher candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new fifth grade teacher. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a fifth grade teacher?