What is a transition teacher and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Quoted Expert
Dr. Diana Jones
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a transition teacher. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.93 an hour? That's $49,766 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 60,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Transition Teacher?

D

Dr. Diana JonesDr. Diana Jones LinkedIn Profile

Chair, Department of Kinesiology, Anderson University

General advice: I would encourage graduates to find a mentor who can guide them in their careers, stay on top of the latest technology, not be too hard on themselves, be flexible, be team players, be present, and care about their students.
ScoreTransition TeacherUS Average
Salary
3.9

Avg. Salary $49,766

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
7.6

Growth Rate 4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
5.7
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.52%

Asian 3.66%

Black or African American 9.80%

Hispanic or Latino 12.62%

Unknown 3.91%

White 69.48%

Gender

female 82.33%

male 17.67%

Age - 42
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42
Stress Level
7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
8.5

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
4.3

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Transition Teacher career paths

Key steps to become a transition teacher

  1. Explore transition teacher education requirements

    Most common transition teacher degrees

    Bachelor's

    62.1 %

    Master's

    24.6 %

    Associate

    8.5 %
  2. Start to develop specific transition teacher skills

    Skills
    ascdesc
    Percentages
    ascdesc
    Classroom Environment15.90%
    Behavioral Issues14.41%
    Transition Program11.91%
    Progress Monitoring11.91%
    Social Studies11.22%
  3. Research transition teacher duties and responsibilities

    • Lead debates with advance students on topics including globalization, economics, and political history.
    • Develop and implement age-appropriate curriculum for toddler program, ensuring that appropriate opportunities are provided in order to maximize learning potential.
    • Implement various aspects of TEACCH to ensure student success.
    • Supervise students in classrooms, halls, cafeterias, school yards, and gymnasiums, or on field trips.
  4. Prepare your transition teacher resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your transition teacher resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a transition teacher resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Transition Teacher Resume templates

    Build a professional Transition Teacher resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Transition Teacher resume.
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    Transition Teacher Resume
  5. Apply for transition teacher jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a transition teacher job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Transition Teacher Job

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Are you a Transition Teacher?

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Average transition teacher salary

The average Transition Teacher salary in the United States is $49,766 per year or $24 per hour. Transition teacher salaries range between $40,000 and $61,000 per year.

Average Transition Teacher Salary
$49,766 Yearly
$23.93 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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How do transition teachers rate their job?

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Transition Teacher reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2022
Pros

Kids, teaching lessons, co-teachers, hours, weekends off, salary, holidays off, summers off, paid sick and personal days

Cons

Administration, observations, being told what to teach and HOW to teach it, expecting us to participate in things we might not want to or have the time for, staff meetings with no substance


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020
Pros

Ability to share knowledge and guide students in learning new things.

Cons

Some students' non-challant attitude towards learning.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020
Pros

The pedagogical autonomy. Teaching is an art and every year is (and should be) different. I recreate goals, programs and targets according to the needs of the students each year. Maine is an incredible place to teach as it doesn't require 3 page (or more lesson plans for each day. The admins are supportive and teachers are encouraged to improve and change their craft as needed.

Cons

The stress and absence of financial support are hard. I spend far too much of my own money buying notebooks because the families think I should. The lack of community support wears you down. The inflexible expectations of upper admin. The endless testing and the unrealistic demands and canned programs that do NOTHING to help students from financial and socio-economically challenged areas succeed.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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