(Assistive technology that might be used by instructional aides.)

My post is largely anecdotal. I don’t know the stats for turning an aide position into a teaching position — those stats may not exist — so take this post with a grain of the proverbial salt, since the “Aide” strategy has been known to work, especially when an aide was busy taking education classes toward a teaching certificate. Districts may reward aides with that new certificate or degree, “promoting” them into a classroom of their own.

It’s mid-June and you may be feeling worried or even desperate. You want to nail that position down so you can enjoy the rest of the summer. You want to know that your dollars on education have been well-spent.

In the next few months, you may be tempted to take a position as an instructional assistant in order to get a foot in the door. A district may even suggest this to you after they hire “Bob” to fill the position that you interviewed for the previous week. They liked you. They also liked Bob, who had more experience, but they do have an opening for a helper in a special education classroom. The Principal suggests you apply.

What to do?

I would tell that Principal, “Thank you. I love your district. But I want to teach.”

I mostly advise against the instructional assistant strategy. Those positions sometimes provide full benefits but they tend to pay poorly. Classroom aides make about the same wage as a starting prep cook in a chain restaurant in many districts, and less than the waitstaff pushing martinis out on the floor. They may make less than that prep cook.

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Teacher_Assistant/Hourly_Rate lists sobering data on pay for these positions. According to a PayScale salary survey, teaching assistants are largely women, and overall the group averages $10.86 per hour for pay. Only around one-half receive benefits such as medical coverage and about a third get dental coverage.

I suspect those salary and benefits numbers run higher for standard public school districts, and the averages are being pulled down by private and preschool numbers, but regardless salaries for teaching aides remain low. Many instructional assistants in public schools cannot afford to opt into the family insurance coverage their district offers. While personal health insurance may be free, family coverage requires a monthly premium that teaching aides commonly cannot afford.*

Pay differs greatly by location and district. Many areas pay better, and a significant range in salaries can be found in a small geographic area. According to https://www.teacher.org/career/teaching-assistant/, teacher’s aide employment opportunities are expected to grow about 9% by 2022 — which certainly should provide job security. Teacher.org lists average salary for a teachers aide at $23, 640.

Pros for the Instructional Assistant position:

1. You get your foot in the door. By next year, everyone will know you.
2. Those assistants often make quality classroom instruction possible. That quiet voice in the background helping the teacher maintain order, explain tough concepts, and sometimes even adapt materials? That voice helps teachers to differentiate instruction better than any strategy taught in any professional development.
3. Surveys show job satisfaction is high. These positions are often low stress. Unlike teachers, you don’t have regular evening work. Like teachers, you get a great vacation schedule. You will be given the chance to build relationships with smaller groups of kids and you may be vital to the success of “your” kids.
4. You often get to observe different classrooms as part of your duties, learning techniques for when you land that first teaching position.
5. Possible medical and dental benefits, likely free for just you.

Cons for the Instructional Assistant Position:

1. Low pay compared to teachers
2. Little or no control of classroom procedures, depending on the position.
3. You become seen as a highly useful instructional assistant — BUT not as a teacher. When you go to apply for future teaching positions, you are not a teacher and you will be competing with people who are teachers. That puts you at a big disadvantage in the hiring process.

Exceptions to what I just wrote: Let’s say Ms. T is going to retire next year and everyone knows this. You will be working with Ms. T. I’d make it clear that I was willing to take the assistant position because I wanted Ms. T’s job next year and then I’d watch to see how the hiring committee reacted to that.

In smaller, more rural districts, the teaching assistant to teacher plan also becomes a more likely win. In these districts, familiarity counts for a lot. The fact that you are a regular face at high school football games will be noticed in a small town. Rural districts are less likely to be flooded with applicants for positions and are more likely to go with a local than an outsider. Too many previous outsiders may have moved on from Mossycreek, Montana after deciding they could not face another year in a town with only erratic cell reception, one dingy tavern, a reduced-hour or closed post office, and a tiny food and liquor store that closes when the owner goes on vacation. (I now owe those small towns a post explaining why they can be great places to teach :-).)

Your personality counts if you take the instructional assistant path. Are you an extrovert, the sort of person who discusses the Cubs or Cavaliers passionately in the teacher’s lounge? Do you automatically look for volunteer opportunities or coaching positions? Do you have that booming, commanding voice that quiets a lunchroom? If so, you have better odds on making the teaching-aide-to-teacher-strategy work. Quiet competence will please your district, but will not necessarily help district leaders see you in an instructional role.

I intended this to be a short post but it got away from me. I wrote today’s post because I know too many teaching assistants who intended to use their positions as stepping stones but did not find teaching positions later. They are not necessarily unhappy with their positions, but not a one of them wants to try to live on what they are paid.

*If a person needs family insurance coverage, these positions offer one way to get that coverage. The premium may eat up a huge chunk of the aide’s salary, but I have known multiple people who used their instructional assistant position for family coverage despite the fact that family coverage gutted their pay. A self-employed spouse might earn most the family’s money while the aide provides benefits. Actual cost of family coverage in two places I worked: $1,200 per month.