Becoming an educational specialist is an excellent way for educators, instructors, and teachers to create change within education. As an educational specialist, educators can contribute to the development of instructional practices and provide suggestions for curricula improvement. Becoming an educational specialist can also provide various opportunities for career growth within education.
What are Education Specialists?
Education specialists are educators or teachers trained in specific areas of education such as early childhood education, assessments, and more. They monitor the progress of their initiatives and collaborate with instructors, educators, and teachers to improve educational outcomes. They strive to improve current educational practices by staying updated on the latest research developments, best practices, and trends.
Education specialists can work in various settings such as public schools, colleges, private schools, or for non-profit organizations. Most educational specialists have hands-on experience in educational settings and the desire for change in education. This experience can be as an educator, educational policymaker, researcher, administrator, or teacher.
Education specialists hold advanced degrees in their preferred area of study. Educational Specialist degree programs similar to Berry College’s Ed.S. program focus on curriculum and instruction. Other Ed.S. programs can focus on educational leadership, administration, technology, literacy, early childhood education, and more.
What Can You Do as an Education Specialist?
Generally, education specialists strive to improve the quality of education for students by evaluating existing materials and creating new ones. They ensure the relevancy of current instructional methods and materials by staying updated on best practices and policy changes. They can also oversee policy implementation, curriculum development, and performance outcomes on a district or school level.
As a result, education specialists can hold different roles and job titles based on their training and expertise.
6 Jobs for Educational Specialists
Educational specialists provide their expertise in various ways to create positive changes in education. Whether developing teaching strategies behind the scenes or overseeing policy implementation, each role innovates and improves current educational approaches.
- Curriculum and Instruction Specialists
Curriculum and instruction specialists are education specialists responsible for analyzing the performance of existing educational curricula. They use this information to provide recommendations to strengthen the quality of educational content and teaching instruction. They can also create new curricula designed in compliance with current educational guidelines, policies, and regulations.
Once new curricula are created, curriculum and instruction specialists can perform mock classes for instructors. This allows instructors to observe new instructional strategies and teaching methods firsthand. They can incorporate these practices into their current teaching style and implement them into their classrooms.
Curriculum and instruction specialists can also use mock classes to analyze the effectiveness of existing and new instructional materials. These results along with teacher and student feedback help these specialists improve the quality of existing materials. This feedback can also be incorporated when curriculum and instruction specialists create new materials.
- Assessment Specialists
Assessment specialists, also referred to as education assessment specialists, are responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of assessment tools and techniques. These tools include standardized tests, performance assessments, and surveys. Assessment specialists strive to improve the accuracy, reliability, and fairness of current examinations being administered to students.
Assessment specialists measure the effectiveness of current educational programs by analyzing student progress through assessment and evaluation tools. Based on student data, assessment specialists can provide recommendations to school administrators and teachers. These recommendations will address areas of weakness in existing assessment practices and provide solutions to overcome them.
This information helps administrators and teachers make informed decisions regarding current instruction methods and curriculum content.
- Private Education Support Specialists
Private education support specialists are education specialists responsible for providing support to students outside of the traditional public school system. They can work with elementary, middle, high school, or homeschooled students and provide tutoring services and college admissions counseling. They may also provide special education services for students with learning disabilities.
Private education specialists can work with a wide range of students to help them reach their academic goals. As such, they can be trained in educational niches such as school counseling, special education, as well as curriculum and instruction. These education specialists may also specialize in specific subjects such as math, reading, science, or history.
- Superintendents
Superintendents oversee all school systems within their district and report directly to the Board of Education. They act as the liaison between school boards and administrators to ensure new and existing policies are compliant with state and federal regulations. They can hire and fire supervisory staff such as principals, vice principals, and other school administrators.
Superintendents handle comments, concerns, and criticisms from the public, district employees, and board members regarding current school operations. They regularly meet with principals and directors to discuss progress and address any educational concerns within their district. They relay these concerns to the Board along with recommendations to help schools reach Board objectives.
- Principals
Principals are responsible for overseeing the daily operations of educational faculty and staff. They work with teachers to develop and implement different instructional strategies into their current teaching style to improve instruction quality. They monitor these new strategies to determine their impact on student outcomes.
Principals strive to create healthy, positive, and supportive learning environments to improve academic outcomes. They communicate with community members, parents, and stakeholders to keep them informed of school goals and achievements. Principals can also manage the school’s budget to better allocate school funds.
If schools require additional funding for larger building repairs, principals can work with the school board. Principals are responsible for overseeing building maintenance, repairs, and renovations to ensure the building remains a well-maintained and safe environment.
- Vice Principals
Vice principals, or assistant principals, work with principals to oversee a school’s daily operations. They can assume a principal’s responsibilities if a principal is absent, but vice principals primarily support a school’s administrative staff. They often oversee talent management by recruiting, training, and onboarding new faculty and staff members.
Vice principals can plan school events or activities such as field trips, proms, plays, dances, and orientations for new students. They help principals create new policies, order and review new student textbooks, as well as arrange and conduct assessments. If teachers are absent, vice principals can arrange substitutes to cover their classes.
In Summary
Regardless of their title, educational specialists dedicate themselves to improving education. They monitor student performance to understand current efficacy and develop materials to better fill educational gaps. They can oversee an entire district or focus their attention on one school.
Educational specialists play a vital role in innovating and ensuring high quality education for future generations.