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Elementary School Teacher Career Assessment

One class, every subject, a whole year of growth

Section 1 of 11

Welcome

Elementary school teachers teach children roughly six to eleven years old — the grades between kindergarten and middle school. You get one group of about twenty-two to twenty-six children and you keep them all day, every day, all year.

You do not teach one subject. You teach all of them. This page will show you what that really means, what it pays in North Dakota, and whether it fits you.

This takes about 15 minutes.

What is a Elementary School Teacher?

An elementary teacher teaches reading, writing, math, science, and social studies to the same class every day. You plan five subjects, not one. In the morning you are a reading teacher running three different small groups because your class reads at three different levels. By ten you are a math teacher. By one you are teaching how a plant grows or how a bill becomes a law. You also grade the work, track how every child is doing, write report cards, meet with parents, sit in team meetings about the children who are struggling, and cover lunch and recess duty. In North Dakota the elementary license covers grades 1 through 8, so "elementary teacher" here can mean a first grade classroom or an eighth grade classroom.

An elementary teacher explains a lesson to her class.

The Reality: Say this part out loud: the work does not fit in the school day. Your contract may say 8:00 to 4:00, but planning five subjects, grading, and answering parent emails happens at night and on Sunday. Most elementary teachers get one prep period a day, about 45 minutes, and half of it goes to copying, meetings, or a phone call home. The first two years are the hardest, because you are building every single lesson from scratch for the first time. Teachers who last learn to stop chasing perfect and reuse what worked.

Your Responsibilities:

You get one class for one year, and you can see the difference you made in June.

A Day in the Life

An elementary teacher works with a small group on a science activity.

7:30 AM — In early. Copies for the day, math materials out, and the morning message on the board. Answer two parent emails from last night.

8:15 AM — Students arrive. Morning work, attendance, lunch count. One student tells you their dog died last night, so you adjust the whole morning in your head.

8:45 AM — Reading block. Whole-group lesson, then three small groups while the rest work at stations. You keep notes on each group as you go.

10:15 AM — Math. Whole group, then partner work. Two students are lost, so you pull them to the back table.

11:30 AM — Lunch and recess duty. You eat in twenty minutes, standing, while you sort out an argument about a soccer game.

12:30 PM — Your prep period — except today it is a meeting about a student who needs a support plan. No prep.

1:15 PM — Science, then social studies. Group work, which is loud, and that is fine.

3:30 PM — Dismissal, then two hours of grading, planning tomorrow, and calling a parent. You take the rest home.

You are on your feet and talking almost non-stop from the first bell, and the real planning happens before and after.

Training in North Dakota

A four-year degree in elementary education and a North Dakota teaching license. The North Dakota elementary license covers grades 1 through 8. Note both ends of that. It does not include kindergarten unless you add a Kindergarten Endorsement or hold the birth to grade 3 early childhood license. It does include middle school grades, which is why an elementary degree in this state opens more doors than people expect. This is by far the biggest teaching job in North Dakota, so if you are choosing between the four careers in this series, this is the one with the most openings.

Training Pathways:

Where to Train in North Dakota:

Before You Start: A high school diploma or GED to start. You need to read a lot and write clearly. You also have to be comfortable enough with elementary math to teach it well, which is different from being good at math — you have to explain why it works, not just get the answer. Teacher preparation programs have a GPA gate partway through; UND asks for at least 2.75. A fingerprint background check is required before you can be licensed or placed in a classroom.

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.

Certification & Licensing

North Dakota licenses you personally, through the Education Standards and Practices Board. ESPB issues and renews every North Dakota teaching license. An elementary license covers grades 1 through 8. Endorsements let you add kindergarten, reading, English learners, or special education on top.

The License Ladder in North Dakota:

The Exams: North Dakota requires all three Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators tests: Reading (5713, qualifying score 156, minimum 149), Writing (5723, qualifying score 160, minimum 153), and Math (5733, qualifying score 150, minimum 143). ESPB also accepts a composite of 466 as long as no single score falls below that test’s minimum. You also take a subject test for your licensure area. ESPB does not list the subject test codes and cut scores on its testing page, so confirm the exact elementary education test and required score with ESPB before you register (nd.gov/espb/licensure/testing-information).

Cost: From the ESPB fee list: initial application $30, fingerprinting $44.50, Initial In-State two-year license $85, two-year renewal $65, five-year license $140, endorsements $80 each, Alternate Access License $165, Interim Substitute License $95, transcript review $175, and a $100 late fee if a license lapses. A $5 maintenance charge is added to new applications. The four-year degree is the real expense.

Keeping It Current: ESPB renews the five-year license when you have at least 30 days under contract and six semester hours of continuing education. Districts also pay more for graduate credits and a master’s degree, which is why so many teachers take summer classes — it covers renewal and moves you up the pay scale at the same time.

Salary & Job Outlook

North Dakota Elementary School Teacher Pay (May 2025) — yearly contract pay:

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. The middle North Dakota elementary teacher earns about $60,030 a year, which is below the national middle of $63,970. So yes, this state pays less than the country does. The bigger gap is at the top: the top tenth in ND earn about $75,990 while the top tenth nationally earn about $104,340. In plain words, North Dakota starting pay is close to the national floor, but the ceiling here is much lower. Pay rises with years taught and with graduate credits, and district pay scales are public, so you can look up exactly what any ND district pays before you apply. Remember too that this is pay for a school-year contract, not twelve months.

Jobs in North Dakota: About 4,110 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 4,350 (about 6% growth). Expect about 310 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: Strong, and by a wide margin the best of the four careers in this group. O*NET shows North Dakota going from about 4,110 elementary teachers in 2024 to about 4,350 in 2034, roughly 6% growth, with about 310 openings a year. Nationally this job is shrinking about 2%, so ND is moving the opposite direction from the country. Three hundred and ten openings a year across the state means a new graduate who is willing to look outside the three biggest cities can usually find a job. Rural districts hire hardest and often the fastest.

Who Hires in ND: Public school districts in every North Dakota county, tribal and Bureau of Indian Education schools, Catholic and other private schools, and a small number of charter schools. Large districts like Fargo, West Fargo, Bismarck, Minot, and Grand Forks hire the most positions; rural districts have the least competition per opening.

Work Setting: One classroom that belongs to you, with your own desks, library corner, and wall space. School calendar, roughly late August through late May, with holidays and summers off unless you work summer school or another job. You share lunch, recess, and bus duty with the rest of the staff, which means time outside in ND winter. Realistically you arrive before the students and stay after them, and you take work home.

Physical Demands: Moderate. You are on your feet and moving most of the day, but you do sit sometimes, and you are not carrying children the way a preschool teacher is. The real physical costs are your voice, your back from bending over desks, and recess duty in the cold. You will catch a lot of colds, especially in your first two years.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 25-2021); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.

Where This Leads

Path 1: Classroom Teacher — Teach the same grade and get better at it every year.

Path 2: Reading or Math Specialist — Add a credential; work with the students who struggle most.

Path 3: Special Education Teacher — Add the license; ND needs these badly.

Path 4: Instructional Coach — Help other teachers improve their teaching.

Path 5: Elementary Principal — Add a master’s degree and lead a building.

Path 6: Curriculum Director — Choose and build what a whole district teaches.

The Real Talk

What's Great:

What's Hard:

Be Honest: Are you willing to plan five subjects a week and take grading home most nights, especially for the first two years? Can you teach the same lesson three different ways in one hour because your class reads at three different levels? Can you go home at the end of a bad day and come back warm the next morning for the same child who made it bad? And can you accept ND pay, knowing the starting number is fair and the ceiling is low?

Part 1: What Attracts You?

What draws you to elementary teaching?

Part 2: Are You Ready?

1. I can commit to a four-year degree and a state license.
2. I can plan lessons in five different subjects every week.
3. I am willing to grade and plan on my own time.
4. I can teach one lesson three different ways for different levels.
5. I can be on my feet and talking most of the day.
6. I can handle behavior problems without taking them personally.
7. I can talk honestly with a parent who disagrees with me.
8. I am open to a job in a smaller ND town, where the openings are.

Part 3: Your Next Move

What's your plan?

Your Elementary School Teacher Assessment Results

Sources & Learn More

Everything on this page comes from these sources. Each one opens the page the information came from, so you can check it yourself or keep reading.

Career information
Elementary School Teacher on O*NET OnLine — what the job involves, the skills it uses, and related jobs.
Pay and employment data
North Dakota pay for Elementary School Teachers — from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025.
North Dakota job outlook, 2024–2034 — state projections from Projections Central.
Education and training
North Dakota schools that train Elementary School Teachers — colleges and programs in this state, with how many people finished recently. From the U.S. Department of Labor, using federal college data (IPEDS).
More career exploration
RUReady.ND.gov career planning — North Dakota’s own career and college planning site. An account may be required.

Pay and outlook figures on this page were taken from the sources above in September 2026. Occupation code: 25-2021.00. Numbers are updated by the agencies over time, so check the links for the newest figures.