non dual teacher has always been among the most responsible jobs. None of the classes can be left unattended as the absence of any teacher can adversely affect student’s studies. To avoid any such adverse conditions, these days many schools and colleges are looking for substitute teachers. Teachers can be absent because of many reasons such as illness, pregnancy or maternity leave, educational leaves of absence, workshop attendance requirements etc. This is why these replacement teachers are always in the requirement as without them, the education system can suffer a lot.
Generally these replacement teachers are not permanent or full-time employees. Actually, they fill the temporary vacancy of teachers when the need arises. While reporting for work, a substitute teacher is asked to take over few or all the duties of the absent teacher. It is important to understand that once a teacher is placed on a school’s roster, she or he may be asked to tutor any grade, though the duration of educating students may be of very short notice. Adding to this, a replacement teacher may further be asked to complete the absent teacher’s lesson plan. Besides this, the duties may further include providing instruction to students, giving work assignments, correcting students’ work and updating attendance records. Work responsibility of a stand-in teacher may also include ensuring the safety of students, school property and proper maintenance of discipline in the classroom.
Career Prospects
Since there is always a need of substitute teachers, they are employed straight by private schools and public school districts. Nevertheless, there are many areas where employment agencies have appointed temporary staffers to play the role of replacement teachers. If we carefully look at the job prospects of these alternate teachers, it is expected that the vacancies might go up about as fast as an average of all other professions. As per recent study made by Utah State University, around 274,000 people work as replacement or standby teachers per day in the United States, but still many school districts are struggling with the severe lack of available and proper trained substitute teachers. This current scenario clearly indicates that in the next few years as the shortage is expected to grow, the demand of replacement teacher in turn may also increase. Standby teachers with formal education and extensive experience are going to see the maximum rise in job opportunities.
Salary Outlook
An average annual salary for replacement teacher is $38,000. Adding to this, as per the report of The National Substitute Teachers Alliance, the national median pay for Substitute Teachers is $105 per day. Nonetheless, median annual salary of these standby teachers generally differs depending on different factors like employer, job location, experience or an educational background.
Education Requirements
The district or state may not ask for any educational basics to be a stand-in teacher. However, taking a high school diploma that is two years of post-secondary education, a bachelor’s degree in any subject with completed coursework in education or even a formal teaching license can be very useful to get a teacher job. In many states, there is a systematic application procedure that might call you for health screenings and immunizations. Apart from this, a state might give a temporary license particularly for replacement teachers, offer training manuals or provide compulsory training sessions to arrange new replacements for the classroom.
Today there is a high need of standby teachers. In fact, in recent times many districts and states of United States have implemented different programs to try to attract replacement teachers. Recently, a bill has been initiated in the House which actually aims in providing funds for training substitute teachers. It is definitely, one of the few professions that have the better scope for professional development. As a substitute teacher, your guidance and teaching to students can play a vital role in their academic performance.
