Preschool teachers have a very tough job. They need to manage a classroom of unruly young children, some of whom may be away from home for the first time in their lives, and get through their lesson plans as well. Luckily, many preschool teachers have the help of a preschool teacher's assistant to make their jobs easier.
A preschool teacher's assistant helps the classroom teacher with whatever is needed to maintain a calm, orderly classroom environment. This can include leading activities, preparing snacks, and interacting with children on an individual level. Sometimes, they may pay special attention to children with disabilities and help change diapers for especially young kids.
A preschool teacher's assistant doesn't need to have a teaching certificate like a full classroom teacher does. In fact, only a few have a bachelor's degree. Some finish a special certification program or get an associate's degree. The most important qualifications are a love for children and patience-plenty of patience.
What is a Preschool Teacher's Assistant?
What Does a Preschool Teacher's Assistant Do
There are certain skills that many preschool teacher's assistants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed creativity, organizational skills and physical stamina.
How To Become a Preschool Teacher's Assistant
If you're interested in becoming a preschool teacher's assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 42.7% of preschool teacher's assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.2% of preschool teacher's assistants have master's degrees. Even though some preschool teacher's assistants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Preschool Teacher's Assistant Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a preschool teacher's assistant can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as preschool teacher, progress to a title such as substitute teacher and then eventually end up with the title principal.
Average Salary for a Preschool Teacher's Assistant
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Preschool Teacher's Assistant Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active preschool teacher's assistant jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where preschool teacher's assistants earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Preschool Teacher's Assistant Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 1,060 | $27,372 |
| 2 | California | 975 | $30,912 |
| 3 | New York | 715 | $33,450 |
| 4 | Illinois | 712 | $31,281 |
| 5 | Florida | 704 | $21,574 |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 596 | $26,451 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 585 | $23,819 |
| 8 | Virginia | 545 | $27,914 |
| 9 | Georgia | 529 | $24,888 |
| 10 | New Jersey | 507 | $31,572 |
| 11 | Maryland | 483 | $30,041 |
| 12 | Ohio | 460 | $22,637 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | 444 | $33,924 |
| 14 | Michigan | 410 | $27,625 |
| 15 | Arizona | 394 | $27,573 |
| 16 | Indiana | 366 | $23,628 |
| 17 | Minnesota | 338 | $31,820 |
| 18 | Colorado | 306 | $29,366 |
| 19 | Washington | 278 | $33,592 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 260 | $26,835 |
| 21 | Missouri | 253 | $25,230 |
| 22 | Tennessee | 229 | $25,124 |
| 23 | Nevada | 202 | $24,340 |
| 24 | South Carolina | 200 | $21,556 |
| 25 | Connecticut | 187 | $30,418 |
| 26 | Oklahoma | 156 | $24,951 |
| 27 | Oregon | 139 | $33,359 |
| 28 | Iowa | 137 | $27,664 |
| 29 | Kansas | 133 | $26,976 |
| 30 | New Mexico | 113 | $30,874 |
| 31 | Nebraska | 110 | $29,164 |
| 32 | Kentucky | 100 | $27,412 |
| 33 | Delaware | 81 | $22,870 |
| 34 | Utah | 68 | $28,479 |
| 35 | Alabama | 67 | $18,176 |
| 36 | Louisiana | 60 | $23,448 |
| 37 | Arkansas | 57 | $26,623 |
| 38 | New Hampshire | 49 | $27,814 |
| 39 | Montana | 45 | $25,789 |
| 40 | Mississippi | 38 | $21,018 |
| 41 | Rhode Island | 37 | $24,340 |
| 42 | Idaho | 29 | $21,933 |
| 43 | Maine | 14 | $29,915 |
| 44 | Alaska | 10 | $27,688 |
| 45 | Vermont | 7 | $35,525 |
| 46 | Wyoming | 6 | $32,144 |
| 47 | North Dakota | 6 | $30,257 |
| 48 | South Dakota | 6 | $27,033 |
| 49 | West Virginia | 5 | $30,411 |
| 50 | Hawaii | 3 | $31,608 |
Top Colleges for Preschool Teacher's Assistants
1. Fairfield University
Fairfield, CT • Private
2. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
3. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
4. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
5. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
6. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
7. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
8. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Private
9. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
10. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Top Skills For a Preschool Teacher's Assistant
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 21.1% of preschool teacher's assistants listed open communication on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and organizational skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Preschool Teacher's Assistant Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Preschool Teacher's Assistant templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Preschool Teacher's Assistant resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Preschool Teacher's Assistant Demographics
Preschool Teacher's Assistant Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among preschool teacher's assistants, 92.9% of them are women, while 7.1% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among preschool teacher's assistants is White, which makes up 64.8% of all preschool teacher's assistants.
- The most common foreign language among preschool teacher's assistants is Spanish at 73.5%.
Work Experience Programs For Preschool Teacher's Assistants
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: Ashurst UK
Cost: Free
Duration: 2 hours
Company: Standard Bank
Cost: Free
Duration: 4.5-5.5 hours
Company: Two Sigma
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: ANZ Australia
Cost: Free
Duration: 2-3 hours
Company: Clyde & Co
Cost: Free
Duration: 4.5 hours
Online Courses For Preschool Teacher's Assistant That You May Like
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In this course, you will get an overview of the impact of contemporary ESG ratings and how a company balances ESG issues against its financial performance. You will evaluate the effectiveness of corporate authenticity and the impacts of politics when building corporate ESG policy. You will also learn about social activism’s ability to disrupt markets, and the roles that stakeholders play when dealing with financial markets. Next, you will learn about corporate Boards, and the importance of...
Learn SAP Activate Methodology (Act100) Learn Agile Methodology (Act200) Based on Activate 13 and Activate 12...
Best States For a Preschool Teacher's Assistant
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a preschool teacher's assistant. The best states for people in this position are Vermont, Massachusetts, Washington, and New York. Preschool teacher's assistants make the most in Vermont with an average salary of $35,525. Whereas in Massachusetts and Washington, they would average $33,924 and $33,592, respectively. While preschool teacher's assistants would only make an average of $33,450 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New York
$33,450
Avg. Salary
2. Massachusetts
$33,924
Avg. Salary
3. New Mexico
$30,874
Avg. Salary
How Do Preschool Teacher's Assistant Rate Their Jobs?
Top Preschool Teacher's Assistant Employers
Most Common Employers For Preschool Teacher's Assistant
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lennox School District | $34,426 | $16.55 | 5 |
| 2 | Council Bluffs Community School District | $33,892 | $16.29 | 15 |
| 3 | Sutton High School | $31,096 | $14.95 | 6 |
| 4 | The Learning Center | $31,091 | $14.95 | 7 |
| 5 | AlphaVista Services | $30,994 | $14.90 | 6 |
| 6 | Learning Prep School | $30,626 | $14.72 | 5 |
| 7 | Kids' Country | $30,549 | $14.69 | 6 |
| 8 | Little Sprouts | $28,090 | $13.50 | 7 |
| 9 | Kiddie Academy | $28,060 | $13.49 | 6 |
| 10 | Kids' Corps | $27,739 | $13.34 | 7 |
Preschool Teacher's Assistant Videos
