1. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,695
Enrollment
6,596
What is a Teacher Assistant?
Teacher Assistants have a fun job. They get to help provide students direction without having of the responsibility that teachers have. This job is actually a great stepping stone for an aspiring teacher but it's also just a great position in general.
As a teacher assistant, you're a glorified tutor. You help provide direction, structure, and explanation to students who need a little more help. Since you primarily work at schools or childcare centers, you probably won't work during the summer.
Teacher assistants don't need that much formal education in order to officially start working. In fact, you only need to complete 2 years of college coursework, then you're well on your way to becoming a teacher assistant.
What Does a Teacher Assistant Do
Teacher assistants work under a teacher’s supervision to give students additional attention and instruction.
How To Become a Teacher Assistant
Teacher assistants typically need to have completed at least 2 years of college coursework.
Teacher 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 you might progress to a role such as consultant eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title principal.
Teacher Assistant
Principal
11 Years
Center Director
7 Years
Assistant Principal
10 Years
Education Director
7 Years
Elementary School Principal
12 Years
Lead Pre-K Teacher
5 Years
Show More
Average Salary for a Teacher Assistant
Teacher Assistants in America make an average salary of $27,103 per year or $13 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $34,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $21,000 per year.
Average Teacher Assistant Salary
$27,103Â Yearly$13.03 hourly
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Teacher Assistant
The role of a teacher assistant includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general teacher assistant responsibilities:
- Responsible for the implementation of small group lessons in language
- Assists in setting work plans for students including accommodations, scheduling, transportation,
- Responsible for assisting in the planning
There are several types of teacher assistant, including:
Teacher
Role:
A teacher isn't just someone you realize you look up to later in life. A teacher is someone who teaches important life lessons while making sure to include academic lessons along the way.
Typically, a teacher only works during school hours, which means they get to beat rush hour traffic. Although, it's not uncommon for teachers to spend their nights and weekends preparing lessons and grading papers. An added bonus of being a teacher is getting to enjoy summer vacation.
Typically, a teacher only works during school hours, which means they get to beat rush hour traffic. Although, it's not uncommon for teachers to spend their nights and weekends preparing lessons and grading papers. An added bonus of being a teacher is getting to enjoy summer vacation.
- Average Salary: $47,989
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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.
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.
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
States With The Most Teacher Assistant Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active teacher assistant jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where teacher assistants earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Average Salary: Job Openings:
Number Of Teacher Assistant Jobs By State
Top Colleges for Teacher Assistants
2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
In-State Tuition
$15,262
Enrollment
30,079
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-State Tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
4. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
5. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
In-State Tuition
$53,740
Enrollment
5,567
6. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,465
Enrollment
6,483
7. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
In-State Tuition
$53,399
Enrollment
7,356
8. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,798
Enrollment
31,503
9. University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$14,167
Enrollment
30,279
10. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
Top Skills For a Teacher 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, 18.5% of teacher assistants listed cpr on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and communication skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Teacher Assistant Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Teacher Assistant templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Teacher Assistant resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Teacher Assistant Demographics
Teacher Assistant Gender Distribution
Female
79%
Male
22%
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among teacher assistants, 78.5% of them are women, while 21.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among teacher assistants is White, which makes up 55.0% of all teacher assistants.
- The most common foreign language among teacher assistants is Spanish at 61.2%.
Online Courses For Teacher Assistant That You May Like
Advertising Disclosure Â
1. Art & Activity: Interactive Strategies for Engaging with Art
Art can be a powerful catalyst for building skills and understanding a range of subjects. Intended for primary and secondary teachers of all disciplines, Art & Activity builds upon the inquiry-based approaches of Art and Inquiry: Museum Teaching Strategies for Your Classroom, while delving into activity-based strategies that will make your students empowered participants...
See More on Coursera2. ESG and Social Activism
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...
See More on Coursera3. Educating Deaf Children: Becoming an Empowered Teacher
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,...
See More on CourseraJob type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary
Best States For a Teacher Assistant
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a teacher assistant. The best states for people in this position are Rhode Island, Maine, Washington, and Massachusetts. Teacher assistants make the most in Rhode Island with an average salary of $32,032. Whereas in Maine and Washington, they would average $30,922 and $30,882, respectively. While teacher assistants would only make an average of $30,818 in Massachusetts, 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 Hampshire
Total Teacher Assistant Jobs: 288
Highest 10% Earn:
$35,000
Location Quotient:
1.62
$28,347
Avg. Salary
2. Montana
Total Teacher Assistant Jobs: 173
Highest 10% Earn:
$36,000
Location Quotient:
1.47
$28,390
Avg. Salary
3. Wyoming
Total Teacher Assistant Jobs: 67
Highest 10% Earn:
$35,000
Location Quotient:
1.1
$27,801
Avg. Salary
How Do Teacher Assistant Rate Their Jobs?
5.0
Information technology teacher • April 2020
5.0
Information technology teacher • April 2020What do you like the most about working as Teacher Assistant?
To experience a new scope of life. Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
Slow response to my quest for work as a value quick response for my result oriented mind. Show MoreTop Teacher Assistant Employers
Most Common Employers For Teacher Assistant
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wake County Public School System | $32,800 | $15.77 | 304 |
| 2 | The Child Center | $28,785 | $13.84 | 137 |
| 3 | Educate! | $28,126 | $13.52 | 323 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Unified School District | $27,883 | $13.41 | 439 |
| 5 | Chicago Public Schools | $27,709 | $13.32 | 215 |
| 6 | Kiddie Academy | $27,701 | $13.32 | 299 |
| 7 | Boys & Girls Clubs of America | $27,307 | $13.13 | 175 |
| 8 | Kumon North America | $27,189 | $13.07 | 201 |
| 9 | Child Development Center | $26,761 | $12.87 | 265 |
| 10 | Bright Horizons | $26,431 | $12.71 | 314 |
Teacher Assistant Videos
A day in the life of a Special Education teacher
A Day in the Life of a Kindergarten Teacher
Career Advice on becoming a Trainee PE Teacher by Andrea C (Full Version)
Becoming a Teacher Assistant FAQs
How Long Does It Take To Become A Teacher Assistant?
It takes 2 years of professional experience to become a teacher assistant. That is the time it takes to learn specific teacher assistant skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 5 to 7 years years to become a teacher assistant.
Can I Be A Ta With No Experience?
Yes, you can become a teaching assistant (TA) without previous experience. This is typically considered an entry-level teaching role, and depending on the organization, is most often filled by a person with little to no prior experience.
Can You Be A Teacher's Assistant Without A Degree?
Yes, you can be a teacher's assistant without a degree. However, this is increasingly uncommon. Most organizations require a minimum of an associate's degree for a teacher's assistant.
Teaching assistants work with lead teachers in an educational setting. They help guide students during lessons and provide support to faculty and staff. Teaching assistants work in various educational settings, including early childhood education, public education, and postsecondary education.
Do Teachers Assistants Get Paid?
Yes, teacher assistants get paid. The average teacher assistant earns around $28,708 a year. This amount can range, however, from $21,000 a year to $41,000 a year. Factors such as the company and location impact how much a teacher assistant can earn.
What Qualifications Do You Need To Be A Teaching Assistant?
The qualifications you need to be a teaching assistant include a high school diploma, but an associate's degree may be required in some cases.
The requirements for becoming a teacher's assistant are different from state to state. In private or charter schools, assistants may only be required to have a high school degree. However, having at least an associate's degree can improve an applicant's prospects.
Have more questions? See all answers to common education, training, and library questions.