What is a Substitute Teacher's Assistant?

Teacher's assistants may seem superhuman due to their patience and hard work-they spend all day among children, often very young children, and help manage their behavior and keep them safe. However, they are humans just like everyone else and get sick. When a teacher's assistant can't come to work, the substitute teacher's assistant comes to the rescue.

The substitute teacher's assistant does all the duties of a regular teacher's assistant, such as supervising students, helping them with their work, and assisting teachers with setting up a classroom. However, they only come into work when a regular teacher's assistant is out and may work with many classes and schools during the school year.

Substitute teacher's assistants do not need a teaching license like classroom teachers do. They usually only need an associate's degree and sometimes a paraprofessional license. They also need to enjoy working with kids and have plenty of patience for their antics.

What Does a Substitute Teacher's Assistant Do

There are certain skills that many substitute 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 interpersonal skills, communication skills and patience.

Learn more about what a Substitute Teacher's Assistant does

How To Become a Substitute Teacher's Assistant

If you're interested in becoming a substitute teacher's assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 53.6% of substitute teacher's assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.6% of substitute teacher's assistants have master's degrees. Even though most substitute teacher's assistants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Substitute Teacher's Assistant
Top Substitute Teacher's Assistant Jobs Near You

Substitute Teacher's Assistant 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 teacher assistant you might progress to a role such as teacher eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title principal.

Substitute Teacher's Assistant

Top Careers Before Substitute Teacher's Assistant

Teacher Assistant(77,358 Jobs)
10.5 %
Cashier(456,110 Jobs)
9.0 %
Substitute Teacher(69,292 Jobs)
8.1 %

Top Careers After Substitute Teacher's Assistant

Substitute Teacher(69,292 Jobs)
13.7 %
Teacher Assistant(77,358 Jobs)
13.0 %
Teacher(71,918 Jobs)
11.1 %

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Average Salary for a Substitute Teacher's Assistant

Substitute Teacher's Assistants in America make an average salary of $29,749 per year or $14 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $37,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $23,000 per year.
Average Substitute Teacher's Assistant Salary
$29,749 Yearly
$14.30 hourly
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Roles and Types of Substitute Teacher's Assistant

There are several types of substitute teacher's assistant, including:

Substitute Teacher

Role:

Substitute teachers are there when regular teachers need backup. If the regular teacher can't make it into school on a given day, a substitute teacher is called.

Sometimes you won't know you're going into teach a class until that day, that's why you kind of have to be "on-call" as a substitute teacher. You never know when you're going to be needed. Some substitute teachers get to fill in if a regular teacher has to take an extended absence, which means you'll be there until they get back. Long-term substitute gigs can mean anything from two weeks to five months or more.

It's important as a substitute teacher to establish some ground rules when you first step into the classroom. Since you're not the regular teacher, some students may decide they don't have to follow any rules, which definitely makes "subbing" even harder. But don't worry - you've got this.
  • Average Salary: $32,904
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Teacher Aide

Role:

A Teacher Aide assists a classroom teacher in dealing with a large number of children. He/She or she helps engage children's attention through one-on-one activities or group exercises. These are part of the integral lesson plan created by the teacher. They might be involved in helping the teacher design the lessons and activities or provide support for dealing with children with special needs.

Teacher aides help manage outdoor games and physical activities or assist with extra activities such as physiotherapy. Sometimes they are responsible for extra classes, like teaching a foreign language. They administer medication to students who need it and help with requests regarding personal hygiene.

Part of the responsibilities of a teacher's aide is to monitor and discuss the child's progress with the parents and other teachers.
  • Average Salary: $29,480
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Long Term Substitute Teacher

Role:

A long term substitute teacher is a qualified individual who steps into a classroom and takes over a teaching position for a prolonged period of time. Some duties include lesson planning, communication with parents, handling disciplinary issues, assessing students, grading assignments, and reporting those grades.

Their responsibilities also include fostering a safe and productive work environment and encouraging students to overcome their limitations and strive for more. They also need to teach interactive lessons, take all necessary actions to protect students, and assist those with special needs. Substitute teachers should keep contact with other staff members as well.

Long term substitute teachers are expected to have excellent communication and organizational skills and to be able to engage students, learn their strengths, weaknesses, and interests, and win their trust. They should also be able to plan engaging classroom activities and form relationships with their students since they are going to be with them longer than an average substitute teacher would.

Long term substitute teachers earn an average salary of $40,284 a year. This translates to $19.37 an hour. This career is expected to grow by 3% in between the years 2018 and 2028, creating 53,100 new jobs across the country.

  • Average Salary: $42,808
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Substitute Teacher's Assistant Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active substitute teacher's assistant jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where substitute teacher's assistants earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Substitute Teacher's Assistant Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California1,616$30,629
2Texas1,264$24,828
3Illinois1,190$30,154
4New Jersey895$28,261
5New York867$31,034
6Arizona841$30,562
7Florida836$23,543
8Pennsylvania731$30,582
9Colorado600$29,531
10Maryland595$24,496
11Ohio564$24,511
12Michigan539$25,551
13Minnesota521$30,330
14North Carolina499$26,735
15Connecticut490$31,843
16Georgia488$24,042
17Virginia477$28,402
18Massachusetts456$35,870
19Indiana416$27,272
20Missouri337$26,400
21Nevada308$27,121
22Washington302$34,107
23Tennessee284$24,787
24South Carolina262$23,954
25Wisconsin233$30,826
26Oklahoma230$24,739
27Oregon211$32,672
28New Mexico189$24,272
29Kansas179$23,066
30New Hampshire176$30,177
31Iowa174$26,734
32Alabama142$24,140
33Kentucky130$24,466
34Nebraska123$25,837
35Louisiana116$23,227
36Montana103$30,190
37Arkansas101$22,763
38Utah91$25,920
39Delaware80$32,542
40Mississippi79$27,940
41Idaho60$27,541
42Rhode Island42$35,596
43Alaska41$41,253
44Vermont37$32,284
45Maine33$31,096
46Wyoming32$25,450
47North Dakota17$33,167
48South Dakota15$27,585
49West Virginia11$28,488
50Hawaii9$27,588

Substitute Teacher's Assistant Education

Substitute Teacher's Assistant Majors

Business
15.0 %
Psychology
10.9 %
Elementary Education
7.4 %

Substitute Teacher's Assistant Degrees

Bachelors

53.6 %

Associate

22.7 %

High School Diploma

9.0 %

Top Colleges for Substitute Teacher's Assistants

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Liberal Arts
Communication
Psychology
Education

2. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Psychology
Business
English
Human Development
Education

3. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology
Education
General Education, Specific Areas
English

4. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Psychology
Social Work
Education
Liberal Arts

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Liberal Arts
Business
Education
Social Work
Psychology

6. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology
Psychology
English
Education

7. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Psychology
Business
Education
Criminal Justice
Sociology

8. SUNY at Albany

Albany, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,011

Enrollment

13,434

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Business
Psychology
Communication
Sociology

9. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Business
Social Work
Health Care Administration
Communication

10. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Social Work
Communication
English

Top Skills For a Substitute 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, 15.3% of substitute teacher's assistants listed cpr on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and communication skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Substitute Teacher's Assistant Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Substitute Teacher's Assistant templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Substitute Teacher's Assistant resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Substitute Teacher's Assistant Resume

Substitute Teacher's Assistant Demographics

Substitute Teacher's Assistant Gender Distribution

Female
Female
83%
Male
Male
17%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among substitute teacher's assistants, 83.1% of them are women, while 16.9% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among substitute teacher's assistants is White, which makes up 56.2% of all substitute teacher's assistants.

  • The most common foreign language among substitute teacher's assistants is Spanish at 70.1%.

Online Courses For Substitute Teacher's Assistant That You May Like

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1. Music Education for Teachers

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In the Music Education for Teachers specialization, you will explore ways of integrating popular music into your teaching. You'll begin by learning from two highly experienced teachers, Krystal Banfield, the Vice President of Educational Outreach for Berklee College of Music, and David Alexis a Berklee Professor and long-time instructor for the Berklee City Music Program. They will take you through their process of incorporating popular music, improvisation, arranging, and music technology into...

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2. Educating Deaf Children: Becoming an Empowered Teacher

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Many Deaf children around the world still leave school functionally illiterate. In some cases there is no allowance made for education of Deaf children at all. This 4 week course provides you with invaluable knowledge and skills about teaching Deaf children. You will learn about the importance of Deaf culture and community, the need for a language rich environment for the Deaf child from as young as possible, and that having access to sign language can help Deaf children academically,...

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3. Blended Language Learning: Design and Practice for Teachers

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This course is for language educators who wish to learn how to build and teach a blended language course. You may receive 1.5 Graduate Teacher Education credits (GRTE) for completing this course. See below for more information. This course is divided into four modules. In the first module we are going to discuss the origins and effectiveness of the blended learning model. In the second module, we are going to look at course level considerations such as how to choose a blended format or how to...

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Best States For a Substitute Teacher's Assistant

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a substitute teacher's assistant. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington. Substitute teacher's assistants make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $41,253. Whereas in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, they would average $35,870 and $35,596, respectively. While substitute teacher's assistants would only make an average of $34,107 in Washington, 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. Alaska

Total Substitute Teacher's Assistant Jobs: 41
Highest 10% Earn:
$50,000
Location Quotient:
0.77

$41,253

Avg. Salary

View 41 Substitute Teacher's Assistant Jobs In AK

2. Connecticut

Total Substitute Teacher's Assistant Jobs: 490
Highest 10% Earn:
$40,000
Location Quotient:
2.33

$31,843

Avg. Salary

View 490 Substitute Teacher's Assistant Jobs In CT

3. Massachusetts

Total Substitute Teacher's Assistant Jobs: 456
Highest 10% Earn:
$44,000
Location Quotient:
0.78

$35,870

Avg. Salary

View 456 Substitute Teacher's Assistant Jobs In MA
Full List Of Best States For Substitute Teacher's Assistants

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Top Substitute Teacher's Assistant Employers

Most Common Employers For Substitute Teacher's Assistant

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Wake County Public School System$41,421$19.9119
2Fairfax County Public Schools$38,535$18.5339
3Prince William County Public Schools$37,902$18.2219
4Anne Arundel County Public Schools$35,814$17.2213
5Newport News Public Schools$33,356$16.049
6Kelly Services$30,575$14.7010
7Chicago Public Schools$30,426$14.6310
8Los Angeles Unified School District$30,393$14.6116
9Hampton City Schools$30,049$14.4510
10Eastern Suffolk BOCES$29,186$14.0313
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Updated February 6, 2023