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Teacher vs student teacher

The differences between teachers and student teachers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a student teacher has an average salary of $59,035, which is higher than the $47,989 average annual salary of a teacher.

The top three skills for a teacher include ESL, handle scheduling and kids. The most important skills for a student teacher are classroom management, math, and language arts.

Teacher vs student teacher overview

TeacherStudent Teacher
Yearly salary$47,989$59,035
Hourly rate$23.07$28.38
Growth rate4%4%
Number of jobs71,91879,071
Job satisfaction4.14-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age4242
Years of experience--

What does a teacher do?

Being a teacher is one of the most passionate professions, among others. Teachers educate, motivate, and guide every generation of learners to prepare them for the real world. Every teacher is unique and has their own teaching styles and methods depending on the subject they teach and the age of their students. Oftentimes they also function as a parent, counselor, coach, friend, and even a lawmaker. There is essentially no limit to the roles a teacher portrays.

What does a student teacher do?

A student-teacher is responsible for assisting their supervising instructors in maintaining the class orderliness during lectures and class activities. Student teachers' duties include helping with lesson plans, organizing learning activities, managing student behaviors, observing classroom procedures, preparing visual materials and other educational equipment, providing feedback for students, and keeping students' records for evaluation. A student-teacher must maintain excellent communication and decision-making skills to set goals and make consistent progress to the class while keeping students engaged.

Teacher vs student teacher salary

Teachers and student teachers have different pay scales, as shown below.

TeacherStudent Teacher
Average salary$47,989$59,035
Salary rangeBetween $32,000 And $70,000Between $46,000 And $74,000
Highest paying CityBaltimore, MDBoston, MA
Highest paying stateMarylandMaryland
Best paying companyKing Low Heywood ThomasGreat Hearts Academies
Best paying industryEducationEducation

Differences between teacher and student teacher education

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

TeacherStudent Teacher
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common majorElementary EducationElementary Education
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaNorthwestern University

Teacher vs student teacher demographics

Here are the differences between teachers' and student teachers' demographics:

TeacherStudent Teacher
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 25.7% Female, 74.3%Male, 26.4% Female, 73.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 3.7% White, 68.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 3.7% White, 69.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between teacher and student teacher duties and responsibilities

Teacher example responsibilities.

  • Work closely with co-teacher to manage and co-teach curriculum to a large group.
  • Target at risk and high achieving students using levele readers and DRA strategies.
  • Lead debates with advance students on topics including globalization, economics, and political history.
  • Develop social studies and geography curriculum.
  • Provide kindergarten readiness in approaching phonemic awareness, phonics, and introductory math skills.
  • Attend and participate in ESL professional development activities, conferences/workshops, curriculum/program planning, & special events and activities.
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Student teacher example responsibilities.

  • Manage RTI reading groups using both basal materials and literature-base novel units.
  • Lead debates with advance students on topics including globalization, economics, and political history.
  • Develop lessons that integrate technology into mathematics and language arts for various grade-levels.
  • Enhance student engagement for learning math and science through maintaining collaborative learning classroom environment.
  • Used responsive classroom strategies for Pre-K and first grade.
  • Attend workshops on how to access and create IEPS and bill for services.
  • Show more

Teacher vs student teacher skills

Common teacher skills
  • ESL, 17%
  • Handle Scheduling, 15%
  • Kids, 12%
  • Classroom Management, 7%
  • CPR, 5%
  • Curriculum Development, 4%
Common student teacher skills
  • Classroom Management, 20%
  • Math, 13%
  • Language Arts, 8%
  • Social Studies, 6%
  • Kindergarten, 5%
  • IEP, 4%

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