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TEACH THIS WAY! · TEACHER-CREATED RESOURCES
Professional Growth

Exploring Career Growth Opportunities Within and Beyond Education

Teach This Way! editorial · Last updated · 10 min read

Teacher leadership, coaching, curriculum, mentoring and roles beyond the classroom, with checked BLS data and practical steps to test a path first.

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At some point, many educators wonder what is next. Some love their classroom and want more influence without leaving it. Others want a new challenge, a different schedule, or a role that uses skills they have built over years: designing materials, supporting adults, analyzing data, or leading teams. Wanting growth does not mean you have stopped caring about students. Often it means you want to make a difference in a different way.

This article is for K–12 teachers, special educators, counselors and related service providers who are exploring options. It covers roles within schools, roles in district and specialist positions, and paths beyond education, with practical steps to test a direction before you commit. Where it mentions pay or job outlook, the figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook. Treat them as national medians only. Pay and requirements vary widely by state, district and experience.

Start With What You Want, Not With a Job Title

Job titles in education are inconsistent. An "instructional coach" in one district may be a "teacher on special assignment" or "academic specialist" in another. Before looking at titles, get clear on what you want more of and less of.

  • Who do you want to work with? Students, adults, both, or neither directly?
  • What part of your work energizes you? Designing lessons, analyzing data, mentoring a new colleague, solving logistical problems, advocating for students?
  • What would you happily give up? Daily lesson delivery, grading, a fixed bell schedule, summers off?
  • What are your constraints? Time and money for more schooling, geography, family needs, pension or benefits considerations.

Write down your answers. You will use them to judge every option below.

Growth Without Leaving the Classroom

Many of the most meaningful growth paths keep you in front of students. These are covered in depth in How to Become a Teacher Leader Without Leaving the Classroom, so here is a brief overview.

  • Department or grade-level lead: Facilitating team planning, coordinating assessments, and representing your team.
  • Mentor teacher: Supporting new teachers or student teachers. Many districts have formal induction programs with training and stipends.
  • Professional learning facilitator: Leading workshops or a professional learning community at your school.
  • Curriculum or committee work: Writing units, reviewing materials, or serving on adoption committees.
  • National Board Certification: The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards offers an advanced, standards-based certification designed to recognize accomplished teaching. Some states and districts offer incentives for it; check your own state's policies.

Roles Within Schools and Districts

Instructional coach

Coaches work with teachers to improve instruction through observation, modeling, co-planning and feedback. The evidence base for coaching is relatively strong: a 2018 meta-analysis by Matthew Kraft, David Blazar and Dylan Hogan in the Review of Educational Research, combining 60 studies with causal designs, found positive average effects of coaching on teachers' instruction and on student achievement. The same study found that effects in large-scale programs were much smaller than in small ones, which is a reminder that how coaching is done matters a great deal.

Coaching suits people who enjoy adult learning and can build trust with colleagues. It is often a different emotional experience from teaching: progress is slower and less visible, and you may have to work with teachers who did not ask for a coach.

Instructional coordinator and curriculum specialist

The BLS describes instructional coordinators as overseeing school curriculums and teaching standards, developing instructional materials, implementing them and assessing their effectiveness. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the typical entry-level education is a master's degree, along with five years or more of related experience such as teaching or school administration. The BLS reported a median annual wage of $77,440 in May 2025 and projects employment growth of 2 percent from 2025 to 2035, slower than average.

School counselor

For teachers drawn to students' social, emotional and academic planning needs, school counseling is a common path. The BLS notes that a master's degree is typical and that public school counselors need a state-issued credential, usually requiring a supervised practicum or internship and an exam. It reported a median annual wage of $64,330 for school and career counselors and advisors in May 2025, with 3 percent projected growth from 2025 to 2035.

School librarian or media specialist

The BLS notes that most librarians need a master's degree in library science and that public school librarians generally also need a teaching certification, with requirements that vary by state. It reported a median annual wage of $68,270 for librarians and library media specialists overall in May 2025.

Principal and assistant principal

Administration offers broad influence over school culture and operations, along with long hours and significant responsibility. According to the BLS, principals typically need a master's degree and five or more years of experience, usually as a teacher, and most states require public school principals to hold an administrator license. The BLS reported a median annual wage of $105,870 in May 2025 and projects little or no change in employment from 2025 to 2035. Many principals start as assistant principals, deans or program coordinators.

Other school and district roles

  • Special education coordinator or program specialist
  • Multilingual learner coordinator
  • Assessment or data specialist
  • Educational technology specialist
  • Family engagement coordinator
  • Teacher on special assignment for a district initiative

Requirements for these vary widely, so ask people in those roles in your own district what preparation they needed.

Paths Beyond the School Building

Educators' skills transfer to many settings. Some options:

  • Training and development: Companies, hospitals and nonprofits hire people to design and lead staff training. The BLS describes training and development specialists as planning and running programs to build employees' skills. A bachelor's degree is typical, and related experience is important. It reported a median annual wage of $69,280 in May 2025 and projects 11 percent growth from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average.
  • Instructional design and curriculum publishing: Building courses, materials and assessments for publishers, education companies or online programs.
  • Creating and selling resources: Many teachers build a side income or a business sharing the materials they make. It takes time to build an audience, and income varies widely, so it works best when it grows from materials you already make and use.
  • Education nonprofits and policy: Program management, family outreach, research support or advocacy.
  • Museums, libraries and community programs: Education departments in cultural institutions value classroom experience.
  • Higher education: Supervising student teachers or teaching education courses, usually requiring an advanced degree.

Before leaving the profession, check what you would give up: pension vesting, health benefits, loan forgiveness eligibility tied to public service, and certification renewal if you might return.

How to Put This Into Practice: Test Before You Leap

  1. Talk to three people in the role. Ask: "What does a typical week look like? What surprised you? What do you miss about your previous role?" Most people are glad to share.
  2. Try a small version first. Want to coach? Mentor a student teacher or lead one PLC cycle. Interested in curriculum? Volunteer for a unit-writing team. Considering administration? Lead a school committee or run summer school.
  3. Document what you do. Keep a simple record of projects, results and feedback. It becomes evidence for applications and interviews.
  4. Check requirements and costs. Look up your state education agency's licensure rules for the role. Compare program costs, time and any district tuition support.
  5. Connect it to a growth plan. Set one or two concrete goals for the year. Creating a Professional Growth Plan That Actually Improves Your Practice walks through how.
  6. Revisit your list. After each experiment, compare what you learned with what you said you wanted. Adjust your direction.

A Realistic Example

This is a composite scenario, not a real educator.

An eighth-grade English teacher with nine years of experience feels restless. She is good at her job but tired of the same cycle. She assumes the only next step is becoming an assistant principal, but she dreads the discipline side of that role.

She writes down what she enjoys: helping the new teacher across the hall, redesigning her writing units, and analyzing which assignments produce the best student work. She talks with an instructional coach, a district literacy coordinator and an assistant principal. The coach tells her the hardest part is building trust with reluctant teachers. The coordinator describes a lot of meetings, but also a lot of influence over materials.

She volunteers to mentor a first-year teacher and joins the district's curriculum revision team for one summer. She finds she loves the curriculum work and finds mentoring rewarding but draining. A year later she applies for a curriculum specialist position with real examples of units she wrote and feedback from teachers who used them. If she had not tested it first, she might have gone straight into an administrative program that did not fit.

What to Do When It Doesn't Work

  • There are no openings in your district. Build experience anyway through committees, mentoring and summer work. Look at neighboring districts, regional education service agencies and state agencies.
  • You are told you need "more experience." Ask what specific experience would strengthen your application, then seek it out deliberately.
  • The new role isn't what you expected. That is information, not failure. Many educators return to the classroom with new skills and perspective, and they are often stronger teachers for it.
  • Cost is a barrier. Ask about district tuition reimbursement, grow-your-own programs and state grants. Avoid expensive programs until you have tested the role.
  • You feel guilty about wanting to leave the classroom. Wanting a change is normal. If the restlessness is really exhaustion, address that too. Understanding Teacher Burnout can help you tell the difference.

Adaptations for Different Roles

  • Special educators: Your expertise in individualized planning and legal compliance is valued in coordinator, behavior specialist and compliance roles.
  • Counselors and school psychologists: Paths include district-level coordination, crisis team leadership, supervision of interns, and roles in community mental health (with appropriate licensure).
  • SLPs, OTs and PTs: Options include clinical supervision, lead therapist roles, private practice, and work in hospitals or early intervention. Licensure requirements differ by setting and state.
  • Early-career teachers: Focus first on mastering your classroom and building relationships. Mentor-friendly experiences like leading a club or co-planning with a team build a foundation for later moves.
  • Experienced teachers late in their careers: Mentoring and leadership roles allow you to pass on expertise, and some districts create part-time or hybrid roles.

Try This Tomorrow

  • Write three things you want more of in your work and three things you want less of.
  • Identify one person in a role you are curious about and send them a short message asking for 20 minutes to talk.
  • Look up your state education agency's licensure requirements for one role that interests you.

Quick Takeaways

  • Start with what you want from your work, not with a job title.
  • Many growth paths, such as mentoring, curriculum work and National Board Certification, keep you in the classroom.
  • Coaching has a solid research base, but its effectiveness depends heavily on how it is done.
  • Check national data (BLS) and your state's licensure rules, and remember local pay and requirements vary.
  • Test a path on a small scale before investing in a degree or leaving a job.

Reflection Questions

  1. When in the past year did you feel most effective? What were you doing?
  2. What skills have you built that you have never formally named?
  3. What small experiment could you try this semester to test a new direction?
  4. What would you need to have in place (financially, personally) before making a bigger change?

Whatever direction you choose, you can keep sharpening your instructional craft through the Teaching Ideas & Strategies library.

Sources & Further Reading

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