Special Education Assistant Teacher Overview
Working as a Special Education Assistant Teacher
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a special education assistant teacher. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.86 an hour? That's $32,987 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 55,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Special Education Assistant Teacher Do
There are certain skills that many special education assistant teachers 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 communication skills, interpersonal skills and patience.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a special education assistant teacher, we found that a lot of resumes listed 25.3% of special education assistant teachers included classroom management, while 9.4% of resumes included cpr, and 8.7% of resumes included mathematics. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
How To Become a Special Education Assistant Teacher
If you're interested in becoming a special education assistant teacher, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 46.8% of special education assistant teachers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 28.1% of special education assistant teachers have master's degrees. Even though most special education assistant teachers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a special education assistant teacher. When we researched the most common majors for a special education assistant teacher, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on special education assistant teacher resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a special education assistant teacher. In fact, many special education assistant teacher jobs require experience in a role such as teacher. Meanwhile, many special education assistant teachers also have previous career experience in roles such as substitute teacher or special education teacher.
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Special Education Assistant Teacher Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of special education teacher you might progress to a role such as lead teacher eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title clinical director.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Special Education Assistant Teacher
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Petaluma City Schools Special Education Assistant Teacher Special Education Assistant Teacher | Petaluma City Schools Petaluma City Schools | 01/24/2020 01/24/2020 | $31,93101/24/2020 $31,931 |
Cajon Valley Union School District Special Education Assistant Teacher Special Education Assistant Teacher | Cajon Valley Union School District Cajon Valley Union School District | 01/16/2020 01/16/2020 | $30,74201/16/2020 $30,742 |
Cajon Valley Union School District Special Education Assistant Teacher Special Education Assistant Teacher | Cajon Valley Union School District Cajon Valley Union School District | 11/19/2019 11/19/2019 | $29,28111/19/2019 $29,281 |
Minneapolis Public School District Special Education Assistant Teacher Special Education Assistant Teacher | Minneapolis Public School District Minneapolis Public School District | 11/03/2019 11/03/2019 | $35,79211/03/2019 $35,792 |
Cajon Valley Union School District Special Education Assistant Teacher Special Education Assistant Teacher | Cajon Valley Union School District Cajon Valley Union School District | 10/30/2019 10/30/2019 | $30,74210/30/2019 $30,742 |
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Top Colleges for Special Education Assistant Teachers
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. New York University
New York, NY • Private
4. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Public
5. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
6. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
8. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
9. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
10. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Public
Top Skills For a Special Education Assistant Teacher
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, 25.3% of special education assistant teachers listed classroom management on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and interpersonal skills are important as well.
- Classroom Management, 25.3%
- CPR, 9.4%
- Mathematics, 8.7%
- Student Learning, 7.3%
- Behavioral Issues, 6.6%
- Other Skills, 42.7% See All Special Education Assistant Teacher Skills
Best States For a Special Education Assistant Teacher
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a special education assistant teacher. The best states for people in this position are Washington, New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Special education assistant teachers make the most in Washington with an average salary of $43,119. Whereas in New York and Massachusetts, they would average $39,822 and $39,654, respectively. While special education assistant teachers would only make an average of $38,523 in Vermont, 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. Massachusetts
$39,655
Avg. Salary
2. Washington
$43,119
Avg. Salary
3. Oregon
$38,127
Avg. Salary
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