Teaching Assistant Certification Information

The teaching assistant position usually does not normally require a particular certification, although certain schools and certain states (especially if a person is pursuing teaching assistant certification in New York) have different requirements for a teacher assistant. Generally speaking, the most that someone will need to become a teaching assistant is a minimum of two years of college education.

In the past, almost anyone could become a teacher's aide, but recently, the regulations of the No Child Left Behind Act make it so that anyone working at a Title I school, or a school that receives special funding from the government, must have at least two years of higher education or pass a certain state test in order to work at this school. According to these regulations, these two years of higher education makes a teacher's aide "highly qualified."

However, although these legal requirements only technically apply to Title I schools, more and more schools that are not Title I are also requiring teacher assistants to become "highly qualified," for various reasons. First, districts and schools do not want to give the impression that they have lower expectations for their employees, and so have adopted the No Child Left Behind policies to demonstrate to the community that they have equally high expectations for the staff at their schools. Second, adopting the same requirements as Title I schools makes the requirements for the state as a whole more uniform, so that all the schools in the state will be on the same page.

So, because districts and schools desire what is best for students, as well as consistency, those who seek to become a teaching assistant should seek to meet the two years of higher education requirement, no matter what school they seek to work at. By doing this, they will not have to worry about requirements potentially changing.

New York is a special situation concerning teacher assistant certification in that so far, it is the only state that utilizes an assessment for teaching assistant certification. After passing the New York State Assessment of Teaching Assistant Skills test (NYSATAS), you will receive a Level I certificate. After a certain amount of time and experience, you may proceed to a Level II, and then a Level III, and then finally a Pre-Professional Certificate.

The certification requirements here are based upon what is currently the law. However, when you apply for a teacher's aide position, be sure to check that you meet all the requirements necessary for the position, and that they have not changed since the writing of this article. Good luck, and I am confident you will succeed in your goal to gain certification and make a difference in the lives of our youth!

Teaching Assistant Resume Guide

Once you have taken the appropriate teaching assistant courses and meet the requirements to become a teacher's aide, the next most important step is writing a good resume. Your resume is the primary document an employer will look at in determining whether to call you in for an interview and whether to ultimately offer you a position. When writing your resume, be sure to follow these tips to maximize the effectiveness of your application for a teaching assistant position:

• Studies show that job recruiters spend only about an average of six seconds looking at each resume, so make sure your resume has an appealing and easy-to-follow format.

The formatting for your resume is almost as, or just as, important as your content. If your resume looks sloppy or hard-to-follow, there is a very good chance that the employer will just toss it out and move on to the next one, perhaps without really even ready what is on your resume! On the other hand, if it looks attractive and put together well, this may even impress the employer by itself, giving you an advantage in the application process.

It is worth the time to make sure your resume looks good.

• A well-written Objective statement will help your resume stand out.

Keep your Objective concise and straightforward, and also specific to the school or district you are applying to. This means that you may need to slightly change your Objective statement for each place you apply to, but this will mean that your resume will stand out that much more from the rest of the competition.

A possible Objective might go something like, "To obtain a position as a teaching assistant at (name of the school or district)".

Do NOT write more than what is necessary in your Objective.

• Include all relevant work and volunteer experience, especially those that have to do with children.

In your resume, you should have a category titled "Work Experience" for your relevant work experience, and a category titled "Other Experience" for your relevant volunteer or other related experience. First, write out what the experience is, and then, if appropriate, list some details about the experience below it. Focus these details upon responsibilities within the experience that would make you a great choice for a teaching assistant position.

If you are looking to gain experience to build your resume, I would highly recommend that you look for tutoring opportunities, offer to help at after-school activities, and/or volunteer at organizations that work with youth, such as a Boys and Girls Club or a Children's Museum.