Education consultants are professionals who provide advice to educators, parents, and schools on teaching styles and educational strategies that can improve student learning. They can work with schools or school districts, or directly with students and their families. Generally, educational consultants act as advisors, reviewing how teachers and districts carry out their educational processes and making suggestions on better ways to accomplish those tasks. They may also do a broader review, looking for issues across the spectrum that current administrators hadn't detected yet.
In addition to providing advice, educational consultants can create long-term strategic plans to alter a district's course or modify curriculum standards. They are the conduit through which much of the knowledge from the technology sector is transferred to school systems. Most employers seek to hire educational consultants with an advanced degree in a field such as curriculum and instruction. Salary ranges for educational consultants may vary depending on whether they are employed as an independent consultant or as an employee in an educational consulting institution.
Schools and post-secondary institutions hire them to examine how their students learn at a holistic level and recommend improvements in policies and programs. To be competitive in the field, an education consultant should consider becoming a Certified Education Planner (CEP). This certification requires a master's degree in school counseling or a related field. There is also a third type of education consultant, one that works with educational organizations such as schools, universities, and non-profit organizations.
American University's Online Master of Education in Education Policy and Leadership and Online Master of Arts in Teaching programs help people achieve equality in education. Today, there is no field that needs the help of external consultants more than education. Other educational consultants work with administrators or special education teachers addressing specific topics in their field. They are passionate about K-12 or higher education and want to positively influence student performance.
As with all types of consulting, there are many career paths for educational consultants, each with their own specific requirements. It will be difficult to find an effective educational consultant who does not have at least a two-year master's degree in education or a related field. Its focus is on training and advising members of the educational community on new technologies, classroom policies, student performance and much more.
