Instructional Coordinator Career Assessment

2What is a Instructional Coordinator?

An instructional coordinator works on the teaching, not the students. You review what a district teaches and find the holes. You lead the committee that picks a new reading or math program, which means reading through publisher materials, running pilots, and defending the choice to a school board. You look at test data and figure out what it is actually telling you, then you help teachers act on it instead of just feeling bad about it. You plan and lead professional development, which means standing in front of colleagues who have their laptops open and their patience short. Many of these jobs are instructional coaching: you sit in a teacher’s classroom, watch, and then have a careful conversation about what you saw. You also write grant reports, track whether programs are working, and sit in a lot of meetings. Some coordinators work outside K-12 schools entirely — for colleges, the state, or companies that build training.

The Reality: Say this part out loud: you will have no authority and a lot of responsibility. You are usually not anyone’s boss. You cannot make a teacher change how they teach, and some of them will decide you are the person who left the classroom and now tells them how to do a job you are not doing anymore. If you are not respected as a teacher first, this job is very hard. The other honest loss is the students. Coordinators say the same thing over and over — they miss the kids. Your reward is now slower and further away: a teacher you coached gets better, and a year later a class you never met reads better. If you need to see the effect of your day at the end of the day, this job will feel empty.

Your Responsibilities:

• Review what the district teaches and find gaps against state standards
• Lead the committee that chooses new textbooks, programs, and materials
• Read test and assessment data and turn it into something teachers can act on
• Plan and lead professional development for teachers and staff
• Coach teachers one on one — observe a class, then talk it through
• Train teachers on new programs, technology, and required practices
• Write and report on grants, and track whether programs are actually working
• Meet with principals, the superintendent, and sometimes the school board

Your work shows up in classrooms you will never stand in.

3A Day in the Life

7:45 AM — Into the district office. No bell. Coffee, email, and a look at last night’s assessment reports.

8:30 AM — Drive to the elementary building. Sit in the back of a second grade classroom for a full reading block, taking notes.

9:45 AM — Coaching conversation with that teacher during her prep. You ask more questions than you answer. She decides what to change.

11:00 AM — Curriculum committee. Six teachers, three publisher samples, and a genuine argument about which one fits your students.

12:15 PM — Lunch at your desk while you pull data for the board presentation.

1:00 PM — Build Thursday’s professional development session. You know half the room will be skeptical, so you plan for that.

2:30 PM — Meet with two principals about how the new math program is landing in their buildings. One is thrilled. One is not.

4:30 PM — Write the grant report. You are here in July too — this is a year-round job.

Adults, meetings, data, and driving between buildings. No bell, and no summer off.

4Training in North Dakota

Classroom experience first, then a master’s degree. There is no ND license for this specific job. Almost nobody gets hired into this work straight out of college. The normal road is: teach for several years and be visibly good at it, earn a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction or educational leadership, then move into coaching or coordinating. North Dakota does not issue a stand-alone instructional coordinator license — ND DPI lists credentials for principals, superintendents, special education directors, school counselors, library media, and Title I roles, but not for curriculum director or instructional coordinator. Districts set their own requirements, and they almost always want a valid ND teaching license plus a master’s degree. If you plan to move up into a principal or superintendent role later, those credentials do exist and are separate.

Training Pathways:

• The normal road (about 8 to 10 years total): Four-year teaching degree and ND license, then about five years teaching well enough that people already come to you for help, then a master’s in curriculum and instruction or educational leadership, then apply. Many coordinators start as a part-time instructional coach or a department lead while still teaching.
• Master’s while you teach (1.5 to 3 years): This is how most North Dakota teachers do it. UND, University of Mary, Minot State, and NDSU all run programs built for people who are working full time, largely or entirely online. Graduate credits also move you across the district salary schedule, so the degree pays you back before you ever change jobs.
• Outside K-12: Not every instructional coordinator works in a school. Colleges, the state, health systems, and larger companies employ people who design curriculum and run training. Those jobs may weigh instructional design, adult learning, and technology skills more heavily than a teaching license.

Where to Train in North Dakota:

• University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) — M.S. in Teaching & Leadership, 30 credits, about 5 semesters, 100% online with no campus travel, with 11 specializations including Instructional Coaching, Principalship, Middle/Secondary Education, Applied Data Research, and STEM+C Education — und.edu/programs/teaching-leadership-ms
• University of Mary (Bismarck) — M.Ed. in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, completable in as little as 1.5 years, fully online or blended with summer classes on the Bismarck campus, $600 per credit hour; also a licensure track version — online.umary.edu/academics/masters-doctoral-programs/master-education-curriculum-instruction-assessment
• University of Mary (Bismarck) — M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership, for teachers who want to lead without leaving teaching entirely — online.umary.edu/academics/masters-doctoral-programs/master-education-teacher-leadership
• Minot State University (Minot) — Master of Education, minimum 30 semester hours, with an 18-credit core covering research design, diversity, technology integration, curriculum and assessment, teaching models, and classroom management, plus a Curriculum and Instruction concentration (12 credits) and a capstone or thesis — catalog.minotstateu.edu/graduate/programs-of-study/ma-education
• North Dakota State University (Fargo) — graduate education programs including curriculum and instruction, on campus and online, plus doctoral work in adult and community education and organizational learning and leadership — ndsu.edu/programs/graduate/education-masters
• Valley City State University (Valley City) — graduate education programs, including accelerated technology education courses that allow up to 15 graduate credits — vcsu.edu
• Dickinson State University (Dickinson) — Master of Education in Elementary Education, for people who already hold a bachelor’s degree — dickinsonstate.edu/academics/fields-of-study/graduate-studies/master-of-education-in-elementary-education
• Turtle Mountain College (Belcourt) — Master of Education — tm.edu/academics

Before You Start: A bachelor’s degree and, for school-based jobs, a valid North Dakota teaching license and real classroom experience — most ND postings ask for three to five years. A master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, educational leadership, or a related field is the usual requirement, and it is sometimes stated as "required or in progress." You need a fingerprint background check. For jobs outside K-12, instructional design and adult learning experience can substitute for the license.

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

No North Dakota license exists for this job — but you almost always need a teaching license anyway. North Dakota does not issue an instructional coordinator or curriculum director credential. ND DPI’s credential list covers National Board Certified Teachers, school counselors, paraprofessionals, principals, superintendents, computer science and cybersecurity, dyslexia, library media, school health technicians, special education directors, and Title I reading, math, and coordinator roles — and nothing for curriculum director or instructional coordinator. So what qualifies you is your ESPB teaching license, your classroom record, and your master’s degree. The credentials below are the ones that actually sit under this job or sit next to it.

What You Actually Need, and What Is Nearby:

• A valid ND teaching license from ESPB — the base requirement for almost every school-based coordinator job in this state. The five-year license requires at least 30 days under contract and six semester hours of continuing education to renew (nd.gov/espb)
• Several years of successful classroom teaching — not a credential, but the real gate. Most ND postings ask for three to five years, and the job is close to impossible without the credibility (nd.gov/espb)
• A master’s degree in curriculum and instruction or educational leadership — the usual hiring requirement, sometimes written as required or in progress
• Title I Coordinator Credential (ND DPI) — a real, separate credential for coordinating Title I programs, which is a common coordinator job in ND districts (nd.gov/dpi/educators/credentials-and-certificates)
• Special Education Director Credential (ND DPI) — the parallel credential on the special education side, if that is where your experience is (nd.gov/dpi/educators/credentials-and-certificates)
• Principal Credential (ND DPI) — the next step up for many coordinators, and a reason to pick a master’s program with a principalship track. UND’s online M.S. offers a Principalship specialization and stand-alone principal and superintendent certificates (nd.gov/dpi/educators/credentials-and-certificates)
• Superintendent Credential (ND DPI) — further up the same ladder (nd.gov/dpi/educators/credentials-and-certificates)

The Exams: There is no exam for the instructional coordinator role itself. You will already have taken the ESPB Praxis Core tests — Reading (5713, qualifying 156), Writing (5723, qualifying 160), and Math (5733, qualifying 150) — plus a subject test, to get your teaching license. Master’s programs typically ask for transcripts, references, and sometimes a writing sample instead of a standardized test. If you go on toward a principal or superintendent credential, ND DPI sets those requirements separately.

Cost: The master’s degree is the main cost. University of Mary lists $600 per credit hour online, and UND’s program is 30 credits, so budget by credits at whichever school you pick and ask about the resident rate. Keeping your ESPB teaching license current runs $140 for a five-year license plus continuing education. Many ND districts pay part of graduate tuition or reimburse credits, and most salary schedules pay more once you hold a master’s — so ask your own district what they cover before you enroll anywhere.

Keeping It Current: Your ESPB teaching license still renews on its normal five-year cycle with 30 days under contract and six semester hours of continuing education. The master’s degree does not expire. ND DPI credentials such as Title I Coordinator, Special Education Director, and Principal have their own renewal terms — check with DPI for the one you hold.

6Salary & Job Outlook

North Dakota Instructional Coordinator Pay (May 2025):

• Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $26.81–$30.37/hour ($55,770–$63,160/year)
• Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $36.22/hour ($75,340/year)
• Experienced (top 25–10%): $39.77–$45.48/hour ($82,730–$94,600/year)

What that means: These hourly figures are real published wages, not a calculation — unlike the teaching jobs on this page, instructional coordinator is usually a year-round position rather than a school-year contract, so BLS publishes both. The middle North Dakota instructional coordinator earns about $75,340 a year, or about $36.22 an hour. That is about $14,000 more than the middle ND high school teacher. Before you celebrate, understand what you are paying for it: teachers work a roughly nine-and-a-half-month contract and coordinators usually work all twelve months. Divide the raise across the extra weeks and the hourly difference is much smaller than the yearly difference looks. The national comparison is unusual and worth reading carefully. At the bottom, North Dakota pays better than the country — the ND 10th percentile is about $55,770 against a US 10th of $47,980, and the ND 25th is about $63,160 against $60,780. At the middle they are close: $75,340 here against $77,440 nationally. But at the top the country pulls far ahead — the ND 75th percentile is about $82,730 against $98,820, and the ND top tenth is about $94,600 against $121,670. Read it this way: North Dakota is a good place to enter this job and a limited place to top out in it. The big coordinator salaries are in large urban districts and in corporate training, and those are not here.

Jobs in North Dakota: About 530 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 560 (about 6% growth). Expect about 50 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 1% growth — slower than average.

Outlook: Good, and better than it looks. O*NET shows North Dakota going from about 530 instructional coordinators in 2024 to about 560 in 2034, roughly 6% growth, with about 50 openings a year. Nationally the job grows only about 1%, so ND is outpacing the country. Fifty openings a year against a workforce of 530 is a healthy ratio — better churn than middle school CTE by a wide margin. Two real cautions. First, these jobs cluster where the districts are big: Fargo, West Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot, and the state agencies. A small rural district does not employ a full-time curriculum director; the principal does that work. So this career often means moving to a larger town. Second, you are competing against experienced teachers who already work in the district and already have the relationships. The realistic path is to get the master’s and take a coaching or department lead role inside your own district first.

Who Hires in ND: Larger North Dakota public school districts, regional education associations, tribal education departments, the ND Department of Public Instruction and the ND Department of Career and Technical Education, colleges and universities, and — outside education entirely — health systems and companies that build employee training.

Work Setting: A district office, plus a lot of time in other people’s classrooms and in meeting rooms. You drive between buildings. Mostly a twelve-month job, so the summer is when you do the planning and training work you cannot do during the school year. Some evening board meetings and parent nights. Occasional travel for state meetings or conferences.

Physical Demands: Low. This is a sitting, walking, and driving job. Long stretches at a computer with data and documents, standing to present, and driving between schools. The strain is mental and social rather than physical — presenting to skeptical adults, holding hard conversations, and sitting through meetings that do not resolve.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 25-9031); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.

7Where This Leads

Path 1: Instructional Coach — The usual first step, often still part-time in the classroom.

Path 2: Curriculum Director — Lead curriculum for a whole district.

Path 3: Assessment or Data Coordinator — Specialize in testing and what the numbers mean.

Path 4: Principal — Add the ND DPI principal credential and lead a building.

Path 5: State or Regional Specialist — Work for DPI, the CTE department, or a regional association.

Path 6: Corporate or College Instructional Designer — Build training outside K-12 entirely.

8The Real Talk

What's Great:

• About $14,000 more at the middle than ND high school teaching
• ND pays better than the nation at the bottom of this job — a good place to enter it
• You help many classrooms at once instead of one
• About 50 ND openings a year against only 530 jobs — healthy movement
• No bell schedule, no lunch duty, no hall duty
• A real step toward principal or superintendent if you want that

What's Hard:

• You will miss the students, and nearly every coordinator says so
• Responsibility without authority — you cannot make anyone change
• Twelve-month job, so the summer off is gone
• ND tops out low: the 90th percentile here is about $94,600 against $121,670 nationally
• Jobs cluster in the bigger districts, so this may mean moving
• A master’s degree and several years of teaching before you can even apply

Be Honest: Do you want to help adults get better at something, knowing you will rarely see the result? Can you be told no by a teacher you have no power over, and come back the next week anyway? Are you willing to give up the summer for about $14,000? Do you have the classroom record to be taken seriously — because without it, this job is nearly impossible? And are you willing to move to a bigger ND town, since that is where these jobs are?

9Part 1: What Attracts You?

10Part 2: Are You Ready?

11Part 3: Your Next Move

Your Instructional Coordinator Assessment Results