Teaching assistant

By definition, TAs assist with classes, but many graduate students serve as the sole instructor for one or more classes each semester as a teaching fellow or graduate student instructor,[1][2] although in some American states, such as Florida, they are called "teaching assistants".

Graduate and adult TAs generally have a fixed salary determined by each contract period (usually a semester or an academic year); however, undergraduates and high school students are sometimes unpaid and in the US and other countries with the credit system, receive course credits in return for their assistance.

[3] TA responsibilities vary greatly and may include: tutoring; holding office hours; invigilating tests or exams; and assisting a professor with a large lecture class by teaching students in recitation, laboratory, or discussion sessions.

A less formal position, a TA job in secondary education is generally determined by the supervising teacher.

In some parts of the United States it is customary or even required that each classroom have one certified teacher and one or more co-teachers or teaching assistants.

Elementary school teaching assistants are generally hired on a contract that lasts the entire academic year.