Instructional Aide (K-12)
Impact: Student outcomes, Teacher support
Assist teachers with instructional duties, supervise students, and provide individual or small group support to reinforce learning concepts.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Extensive
- Team vs solo
- 70% Team / 30% Solo
- Client facing
- Always
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- Minimal
- Schedule flexibility
- Structured
- Remote work
- On-site Only
- Typical work hours
- 35-40 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $35,240
- Entry-level
- $28,000 - $32,000
- Senior
- $45,000+
- Growth by 2033
- -1% (Decline)
- Demand
- Declining
- Freelance potential
- Very Low
- Salary growth potential
- Moderate to 40-60% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $10,000 - $20,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Classroom Management
- Tutoring
- Data Entry
- Educational Software
- First Aid
Soft skills
- Active Listening
- Social Perceptiveness
- Service Orientation
- Speaking
- Empathy
- Cooperation
Technical complexity: Low
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Some college, no degree
- Licensing
- Varies by State
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Instructional Aide
- Lead Instructional Aide
- Teacher (with further education)
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 15% to low risk due to direct student interaction and emotional support components.
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Declining
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.2/10
- Meaning
- 3.5/10
- Work-life balance
- 3/10
- Prestige
- 4.5/10
- Social perception
- High