Career and Technical Education Teacher (Middle School) Career Assessment

2What is a Career and Technical Education Teacher (Middle School)?

A middle school CTE teacher runs exploratory, hands-on courses that let students find out what they like before high school. The room might be a technology and engineering lab with 3D printers and robotics kits, a family and consumer sciences room with sewing machines and kitchen stations, an agriculture room with a greenhouse, or a business and computers lab. Students come to you in rotations, so you may see the entire seventh grade over the course of a year instead of the same 25 students all year. You teach basic safety, basic skills, and the vocabulary of a field, and you build one real project they can carry home. Careers are part of the content: you help students see what jobs exist and what those jobs are actually like. In many North Dakota schools this job is combined with high school classes or with another teaching assignment, because a district rarely needs a full-time middle school CTE teacher by itself.

The Reality: Say this part out loud: there are only about 70 of these jobs in North Dakota, and O*NET projects about zero openings a year. Zero does not mean never, it means fewer than the projection rounds up to. A job like this opens when someone retires or moves, and then it is gone. Plan for that. Almost nobody in North Dakota sets out to be a middle school CTE teacher and finds a posting waiting. What actually happens is that people get a credential that covers grades 5 through 12 and take middle school CTE as part of a job that also includes high school classes. Read the licensing section and aim wide on purpose.

Your Responsibilities:

• Teach short exploratory rotations — six, nine, or twelve weeks — to changing groups of students
• Teach basic safety and basic skills in a lab, kitchen, greenhouse, or shop
• Help every student finish one real project they can take home
• Teach what jobs exist in a field and what those jobs are really like day to day
• Set up, reset, and clean the room between rotations and between class periods
• Maintain equipment, order consumable supplies, and manage a small budget
• Advise a middle school student organization chapter if the school has one
• Do the regular teaching work: plans, grades, parent contact, and duty periods

You give a twelve-year-old the first hour of their life where a tool did what they told it to.

3A Day in the Life

7:30 AM — Set up four lab stations for a rotation that has never used a 3D printer before. Reload filament and test one print.

8:05 AM — First period. Sixth graders, week two of nine. Safety review, then they sketch the keychain they are going to model.

9:00 AM — Second period. Seventh graders, week eight. Their small robots run the obstacle course. Two work, three do not, everyone is loud.

10:00 AM — Reset the room in ten minutes. Different grade, different project, different mess.

11:00 AM — Eighth grade exploratory. Careers unit — you bring in a local diesel mechanic to talk for twenty minutes and answer questions.

12:00 PM — Lunch duty, then twenty minutes to eat and put tools away.

12:45 PM — Prep. Order filament and safety glasses, grade a stack of design sketches, and plan the next rotation.

1:30 PM — Two more sections, then clean the lab properly before you leave — nobody else is going to.

Constant setup and reset, short rotations, and a lot of first-time hands on tools.

4Training in North Dakota

The same CTE credential system as high school — and you should aim it wide. Middle school CTE is credentialed through the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education, the same as high school CTE, and there is no separate middle-school-only CTE credential. That is good news, because it means you should get a credential that covers grades 5 through 12 and apply to every posting in both buildings. The work-experience route matters here just as much: for Health Sciences, Public Safety, Information Technology, and Trade, Industry & Technical Education, the ND CTE policy says "Individuals must have a minimum of four years (8,000 hours) of progressive work experience in the occupation being taught within the past eight years," and for Information Technology and Trade/Industry the education requirement is a high school diploma or its equivalent — not a bachelor’s degree. For Agricultural, Business, Family & Consumer Sciences, Marketing, and Technology & Engineering Education, the usual route is a bachelor’s degree with a major or minor in the content area plus Praxis.

Training Pathways:

• Degree route in an exploratory-friendly area (4 years): Technology & Engineering Education, Family & Consumer Sciences Education, Agricultural Education, and Business Education are the areas most likely to exist at the middle school level in North Dakota, because their content works as a short exploratory rotation. NDSU’s Family and Consumer Sciences Education prepares teachers for grades 5-12 and beyond, and NDSU’s Agricultural Education licensure pathway prepares candidates to teach at the middle and high school levels. VCSU’s Technology Education is an online teacher prep program built around hands-on project work.
• Work experience route — CTE Initial License, two years: Four years, or 8,000 hours, of progressive work in the occupation within the past eight years, with up to 4,000 hours credited for an approved postsecondary training program finished within the past five years. Required coursework during the license term includes Native American competencies, cultural diversity, inclusive learning environments, strategies for diverse learners, and mental health competency, plus a minimum of 15 semester hours of clinical practice.
• Already have a bachelor’s degree: The CTE Alternative Access License runs one year at a time with a maximum of two one-year provisional licenses and asks for a relevant bachelor’s degree, with work experience taken into account. VCSU’s Transition to Teaching program is the ND alternative path for people already holding a CTE Alternative, CTE Initial, or ESPB Alternative License and under contract with a district.

Where to Train in North Dakota:

• North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education — the licensing authority, with credential checklists and the Occupational Work Experience Verification form (SFN 50986) — cte.nd.gov/teacher-licensing
• Valley City State University (Valley City) — Technology Education, B.S.Ed., 120 credits, online teacher prep program with STEM kits shipped to students; design challenges, computational thinking, 3D modeling, robotics, and energy systems, which is exactly what a middle school exploratory lab runs on — catalog.vcsu.edu/undergraduate-catalog/programs/majors/technology-education
• North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Family and Consumer Sciences Education, B.S., preparing teachers for grades 5-12 and beyond; individuals and families, nutrition and wellness, apparel, and consumer decision-making, with an internship capstone. NDSU reports 95% of recent graduates employed or continuing their education — ndsu.edu/programs/undergraduate/family-and-consumer-sciences-education
• North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Agricultural Education, B.S.; NDSU says the Teacher Licensure pathway prepares candidates to teach at the middle and high school levels, and that NDSU is the North Dakota institution for preparing teachers of agricultural education — ndsu.edu/agriculture/agricultural-family-education/agricultural-education
• North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Business Education, secondary licensure major covering grades 5 to 12 — ndsu.edu/education/teacher-education
• Valley City State University (Valley City) — Career and Technical Education, B.S.Ed., 120 credits, with 36 to 45 credits granted toward a technical specialty for an approved postsecondary CTE program or an AAS degree, plus Prior Learning Assessment credit for work experience — catalog.vcsu.edu/undergraduate-catalog/programs/majors/career-technical-education
• Valley City State University (Valley City) — Transition to Teaching, for people already under contract on a CTE or alternative license; $35 application fee, non-degree enrollment available — vcsu.edu/admissions/application-process/transition-to-teaching-requirements
• University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) — M.S. in Teaching & Leadership, 30 credits, 100% online, with a Middle/Secondary Education specialization, useful once you are teaching and want to move up the salary schedule — und.edu/programs/teaching-leadership-ms

Before You Start: For the degree route: a high school diploma or GED to start, then a bachelor’s with a major or minor in the content area and the ESPB Praxis tests. For the work experience route: a high school diploma or GED plus four documented years (8,000 hours) in the occupation within the past eight years. Both need a fingerprint background check, and mandated reporter training is required for licenses issued after August 1 2025.

Tip: Start with financial aid and scholarships. Fill out the FAFSA, ask the school’s financial aid office what you qualify for, and ask an employer whether they help pay for school. That is where the money starts. After that, a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota may be able to help with what is left over, like tuition, books, a laptop, or exam fees. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you enroll rather than after. Worth asking about specifically: two-year degrees that train you for a job, like civil engineering technology, land surveying, mechatronics, electronics, or instrumentation. North Dakota two-year colleges also cost far less than a university. Ask about paid summer internships too — engineering firms, plants, and survey crews hire students while they are still in school.

5Certification & Licensing

One credential system for grades 5 through 12 — get the widest version of it you can. There is no middle-school-only CTE credential in North Dakota. The credentials below come from the ND CTE Secondary Licensing & Certification Policy dated 4/28/2025 and are the same ones a high school CTE teacher holds. Because middle school CTE postings are so rare, the practical advice is simple: qualify for grades 5 through 12, and apply to both. Confirm your own situation with the CTE office at cte@nd.gov or (701) 328-3180 — rules change, and the office will tell you exactly where your background lands.

North Dakota CTE Credentials That Cover Middle School:

• CTE Initial License (two years) — Health Sciences, Public Safety, Information Technology, and Trade, Industry & Technical Education. Requires "a minimum of four years (8,000 hours) of progressive work experience in the occupation being taught within the past eight years," with credit for up to two years (4,000 hours) for an approved specialized postsecondary training program completed within the past five years. For Information Technology and Trade/Industry, a high school diploma or its equivalent is the education requirement (cte.nd.gov)
• Initial Licensure, two years, traditional route — Agricultural, Business, Family & Consumer Sciences, Marketing, and Technology & Engineering Education: a bachelor’s degree with a major or minor in the content area plus the Praxis requirements. These are the areas most commonly taught at the middle school level in ND (cte.nd.gov)
• Teaching Permit (one year) — "four thousand (4,000) hours over five years of relevant work experience in the subject area to be taught or possess a certificate, license, or degree in the subject area to be taught" (cte.nd.gov)
• CTE Alternative Access License (one year, maximum two one-year provisional licenses) — a relevant bachelor’s degree, with work experience taken into account; applied for on SFN 61262 (cte.nd.gov)
• ESPB elementary license (grades 1 to 8) — a second, different door. It is not a CTE credential, but it covers middle school grades, and in a small ND district a teacher on this license may pick up an exploratory class as part of a larger assignment (nd.gov/espb)
• ESPB secondary license (grades 5 to 12) — also covers middle school. Pairing a subject license with a CTE credential makes you far easier for a small district to schedule (nd.gov/espb)
• Five-Year License and renewal — CTE licenses renew with six semester hours of college or university credit plus sixty hours of professional development, filed on SFN 51688 (cte.nd.gov)

The Exams: For the degree route in Agricultural, Business, Family & Consumer Sciences, Marketing, and Technology & Engineering Education, the ESPB Praxis requirements apply: Praxis Core Reading (5713, qualifying 156), Writing (5723, qualifying 160), and Math (5733, qualifying 150), or a composite of 466 with no score below that test’s minimum, plus a subject test. The work-experience route into Health Sciences, Public Safety, Information Technology, and Trade/Industry & Technical Education is built on verified occupational hours and required coursework instead. Ask the CTE office which track your subject sits in before you register for any test.

Cost: CTE credentials are filed on state forms — SFN 61262, SFN 51688, SFN 50986 — and the CTE office publishes current fees, so ask them directly. If you also hold or need an ESPB license, the ESPB fee list applies: initial application $30, fingerprinting $44.50, two-year license $85, five-year license $140, endorsements $80 each. The degree, if you need one, is the real expense.

Keeping It Current: Five-year terms, renewed with six semester hours of college credit plus sixty hours of professional development. The ND CTE Professional Development Conference counts. Graduate credits also move you along the district salary schedule, so the renewal coursework can do double duty.

6Salary & Job Outlook

North Dakota Middle School CTE Teacher Pay (May 2025) — yearly contract pay, very small sample:

• Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $46,530–$46,530 a year
• Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $46,530 a year
• Experienced (top 25–10%): $61,160–$73,970 a year

What that means: Teachers are paid on a yearly contract, not by the hour, so the numbers above are yearly pay. Your district’s salary schedule is what tells you exactly what each step and each year of experience pays. Second, and more important: there are only about 70 middle school CTE teachers in North Dakota, and it shows in the data. O*NET reports the ND 10th percentile, 25th percentile, and median all at exactly $46,530 — the same number three times. That is what a tiny sample looks like, not a real wage distribution. Treat $46,530 as roughly what the lower half of these jobs pays and nothing more precise than that. The ND 75th percentile is about $61,160 and the top tenth about $73,970. Against the nation, ND trails clearly: the US median is $65,030, the US 75th is $79,990, and the US top tenth is $101,890. So the honest summary is this — ND middle school CTE pay is below the national figures and below what ND high school CTE teachers make (about $61,500 at the middle). In practice, pay for a real middle school CTE job in North Dakota comes off the district’s published teacher salary schedule like any other teaching job, so look that schedule up rather than relying on these percentiles.

Jobs in North Dakota: About 70 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 70 (about 6% growth). Expect about 0 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 2% decline.

Outlook: Thin. This is the smallest career on this page and you should know that before you plan around it. O*NET shows North Dakota holding at about 70 middle school CTE teachers from 2024 to 2034 — a listed 6% growth that rounds to no change in the headcount — with about 0 projected openings a year. Zero is a rounded number, not a promise that nothing ever opens; it means the churn is smaller than the projection can measure. Nationally the job is shrinking about 2%. So plan wide on purpose. Get a credential that covers grades 5 through 12 and apply to high school CTE too, where ND has about 30 openings a year and about 7% growth. Better yet, look at regular high school teaching, with about 180 ND openings a year, or regular middle school teaching, with about 110. If what you love is the exploratory, hands-on part of this work, the realistic way to get it is to hold a wide credential and take a job that includes both middle school and high school classes — which is exactly how most ND districts build this position anyway.

Who Hires in ND: Public school districts, mostly the larger ones with a true standalone middle school — Fargo, West Fargo, Bismarck, Mandan, Grand Forks, Minot, Dickinson, Williston. Smaller ND districts run one building for grades 7 through 12, so the same person teaches middle school exploratory classes and high school CTE classes. Tribal and Bureau of Indian Education schools and private schools hire for these roles too.

Work Setting: A lab, kitchen, greenhouse, or shop sized for younger students and softer tools. Groups change every few weeks, so the room resets constantly. School calendar with summers off. Add lunch duty, hall duty, and probably a club. Less evening and weekend work than high school CTE, because there is far less student organization competition at this level.

Physical Demands: Moderate. You are standing, circulating, demonstrating, and resetting the room several times a day. Lifting is light to medium — supply tubs, materials, equipment carts. The real drain is the pace: a new group of beginners every few weeks means you teach the same first-day safety lesson over and over, and everything has to be put back exactly where it belongs every single period.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 25-2023); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.

7Where This Leads

Path 1: Middle School CTE Teacher — Run exploratory rotations for grades six to eight.

Path 2: High School CTE Teacher — The same credential covers it and there are more jobs.

Path 3: Combined 7-12 CTE Teacher — The most common real version of this job in ND.

Path 4: Program or Department Lead — Lead CTE across the district’s buildings.

Path 5: Career Advisor — Move into ND’s Career Development program area.

Path 6: Instructional Coordinator — Design CTE curriculum for a district or the state.

8The Real Talk

What's Great:

• You get to be the first person who ever handed a kid a real tool
• Short rotations mean a group you struggle with is gone in nine weeks
• Middle schoolers will try anything once, and they have not decided they are bad at it yet
• Fewer evening and weekend duties than high school CTE
• The same credential covers high school, so your options are wider than the job title
• Years in a trade can count toward the credential

What's Hard:

• Only about 70 of these jobs exist in North Dakota, with about 0 projected openings a year
• ND pay trails the nation and trails ND high school CTE too
• The wage data is a very small sample and should not be trusted precisely
• Constant setup and reset — you teach the same first-day safety lesson all year
• You only get students long enough to introduce a field, never to finish teaching it
• The job usually comes bundled with high school classes or another assignment

Be Honest: Are you willing to hold a credential that covers grades 5 through 12 and take whatever mix of middle school and high school classes a district can offer? Can you make peace with teaching the beginning of something over and over and never seeing anyone get good at it? Can you reset a room five times a day without losing your temper? And can you look at the number 70 — the total in the whole state — and still say this is the direction you want, knowing your real job will probably include high school classes?

9Part 1: What Attracts You?

10Part 2: Are You Ready?

11Part 3: Your Next Move

Your Career and Technical Education Teacher (Middle School) Assessment Results