Reading teacher vs reading specialist

The differences between reading teachers and reading specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a reading specialist has an average salary of $57,978, which is higher than the $55,452 average annual salary of a reading teacher.

The top three skills for a reading teacher include classroom management, professional development and math. The most important skills for a reading specialist are language arts, student learning, and assessment data.

Reading teacher vs reading specialist overview

	Reading Teacher	Reading Specialist
Yearly salary	$55,452	$57,978
Hourly rate	$26.66	$27.87
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	68,234	2,386
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	42	43
Years of experience	-	-

What does a reading teacher do?

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What does a reading specialist do?

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Reading teacher vs reading specialist salary

Reading teachers and reading specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Reading Teacher	Reading Specialist
Average salary	$55,452	$57,978
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $77,000	Between $43,000 And $76,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	New York, NY
Highest paying state	New York	Alaska
Best paying company	Boston Public Schools	Central State University
Best paying industry	Education	Education

Differences between reading teacher and reading specialist education

There are a few differences between a reading teacher and a reading specialist in terms of educational background:

	Reading Teacher	Reading Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Elementary Education	Elementary Education
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Northwestern University

Reading teacher vs reading specialist demographics

Here are the differences between reading teachers' and reading specialists' demographics:

	Reading Teacher	Reading Specialist
Average age	42	43
Gender ratio	Male, 16.8% Female, 83.2%	Male, 13.3% Female, 86.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 3.7% White, 69.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 3.6% White, 70.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	8%

Differences between reading teacher and reading specialist duties and responsibilities

Reading teacher example responsibilities.

Create and lead individual and small group lessons in mathematics.
Used technology such as scanning documents, creating hyperlinks and PowerPoint to document student progress for student lead conferences.
Lead debates with advance students on topics including globalization, economics, and political history.
Enhance the enrichment program by providing innovative formats for teaching math and reading content such as real-world math and project-base literature response
Conduct pull-out tutor interventions for students struggling in ELA.
Prepare and distribute syllabus to students and department chair.

Reading specialist example responsibilities.

Assist children on the autism spectrum academically and socially to achieve integration into a mainstream educational environment.
Coordinate and direct the annual drama production.
Provide direct services to the RTI students through the best guide reading practices.
Coordinate and execute all festive cultural events for families of students in grades k-12.
Organize school-wide educational events and activities specific to the needs of children with autism.
Review basics of writing essays, discussion of reading selection, and development of writing skills.

Reading teacher vs reading specialist skills

Common reading teacher skills

Classroom Management, 14%
Professional Development, 7%
Math, 7%
Student Learning, 5%
Mathematics, 5%
Mentoring Students, 4%

Common reading specialist skills

Language Arts, 6%
Student Learning, 5%
Assessment Data, 5%
K-8, 4%
Staff Development, 4%
Instructional Strategies, 4%

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Reading Teacher vs Reading Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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