How To Become A Parent Educator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a parent educator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Chris Halter

A Parent Educator is a worker whose responsibility is to help parents and caregivers gain the knowledge and skill they need to raise children. Their tutelage covers teaching parents to interact with children emotionally, psychologically, and physically. It is the parent educator who will provide a structured and peaceful environment where the parents can learn. But before then, the parent educator will reach out to all the parents and schedule a meeting time. If you wish to start a career as a parent educator, the common places you'll find a job are public or private schools, child care centers, and family centers.

Some employers ask candidates for a bachelor's degree in social work or human services with counseling experience. Others require applicants to be registered nurses focusing on child's health. A parent Educator earns $69,486. However, your salary may vary depending on your level of education, certifications, and years of experience.

What general advice would you give to a parent educator?

Chris Halter

Senior Teaching Professor, University of California - San Diego

Like any field, education is changing and adapting to the needs of today. Anyone in education must have strong digital literacy and be able to fluidly integrate the use of technology into their work. Along with that we need data literacy. The ability to understand data and to make decisions based on the data will help guide our decisions. Cultural literacy and competency is also crucial in any social, community-based field. To truly serve others, we must understand the strengths that come from each community.

ScoreParent EducatorUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,992

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.8

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.70%

Asian 4.36%

Black or African American 10.57%

Hispanic or Latino 14.27%

Unknown 4.00%

White 66.09%

Gender

female 91.03%

male 8.97%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

9.8

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a parent educator

Explore parent educator education requirements

Most common parent educator degrees

Bachelor's

64.4 %

Master's

16.8 %

Associate

13.6 %

Start to develop specific parent educator skills

Skills	Percentages
Child Development	17.27%
Social Work	11.61%
Community Resources	11.56%
Mental Health	6.17%
Family Support	3.81%

Complete relevant parent educator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New parent educators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a parent educator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real parent educator resumes.

Gain additional parent educator certifications

Parent educator certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific parent educator certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for parent educators include Certified New Parent Educator (CNPE) and Certified Family Life Educator (NCFR).

More About Certifications

Research parent educator duties and responsibilities

Provide assistance for patients navigating government and community agencies.
Provide and assist in a variety of parenting classes, including CPR and health classes.
Develop courses, and provide training for infant CPR and newborn care for expectant parents.
Maintain effective verbal and written communication with clients, DCS case managers, teachers, adjustment councilors, and probation officers.

Prepare your parent educator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your parent educator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a parent educator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable parent educator resume templates

Build a professional parent educator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your parent educator resume.