What Does an Instructional Specialist Do?
Designing a course is often harder for a new professor than doing research because doctoral programs train people to research far more than they train them to teach. Instructional specialists help faculty plan courses, write fair exams and try new teaching methods, and in veterinary and medical schools they often build the hands-on skills labs too.
Also known as: Instructional Specialist Coordinator, Veterinary Education Specialist, Senior Instructional Specialist
Other Job Titles for This Work
Workers in this occupation report titles such as Curriculum and Instruction Director, Curriculum Coordinator, Curriculum Director, Curriculum Specialist, Education Specialist, Instructional Designer, Instructional Systems Specialist, Instructional Technologist.
Instructional Specialist Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of an instructional specialist include:
- Consult with faculty on course goals, assignments and grading rubrics before a term begins.
- Observe classes on request and give instructors private, practical feedback.
- Lead workshops on active learning, test writing and inclusive teaching.
- Review course evaluations and exam results with departments to find where students struggle.
- Build clinical skills labs and simulation exercises for veterinary or health science programs.
- Coordinate the program assessment reports accreditors require, gathering evidence from each course.
- Pilot new teaching approaches with volunteer instructors and measure the effect on learning.
- Mentor graduate teaching assistants through a teaching certificate program.
- Maintain a library of sample syllabi, rubrics and teaching guides for faculty.
- Advise curriculum committees on sequencing courses and avoiding overlap between them.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as an instructional specialist, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Course design methods such as backward design
- Assessment and rubric writing
- Tact when giving feedback to senior faculty
- Workshop facilitation
- Exam and evaluation analysis in Excel or SPSS
- Knowledge of accreditation standards in your field
- Canvas, Blackboard or another learning management system
- A subject background, such as veterinary or health sciences, for specialist posts
Education and Training
To become an instructional specialist, in most universities you will need a master's degree in education, instructional design or your subject to qualify for a post. According to BLS, instructional coordinators also typically bring 5 years or more of related experience. Many come from teaching.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: $60,780 - $98,820 per year, with a median of $77,440.
The range covers the middle half of earners nationwide. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Instructional Coordinators.
BLS projects employment of instructional coordinators, the group that includes instructional specialists, to grow about 2 percent from 2025 to 2035. School districts account for much of the group's roughly 23,100 yearly openings, so university posts are a smaller slice. And, as long as new faculty arrive with little teaching training, universities will need specialists to make sure their courses work.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Instructional coordinators.
Instructional Specialist Pay Range
| Earners | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $47,980 |
| Bottom 25% earn less than | $60,780 |
| Median (half earn more, half less) | $77,440 |
| Top 25% earn more than | $98,820 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $121,670 |
Highest-Paying States for Instructional Specialists
The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are District of Columbia ($105,990), Maryland ($102,220), Washington ($97,250), California ($97,010), Connecticut ($96,170). Pay is lowest in Montana ($60,920), Florida ($60,790), South Dakota ($57,910).
Median pay in all 51 states with BLS data
| State | Median annual pay |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $69,000 |
| Alaska | $72,320 |
| Arizona | $62,620 |
| Arkansas | $67,100 |
| California | $97,010 |
| Colorado | $82,160 |
| Connecticut | $96,170 |
| Delaware | $79,290 |
| District of Columbia | $105,990 |
| Florida | $60,790 |
| Georgia | $81,060 |
| Hawaii | $96,080 |
| Idaho | $63,030 |
| Illinois | $76,050 |
| Indiana | $66,300 |
| Iowa | $74,970 |
| Kansas | $64,750 |
| Kentucky | $63,640 |
| Louisiana | $63,120 |
| Maine | $76,700 |
| Maryland | $102,220 |
| Massachusetts | $95,320 |
| Michigan | $79,290 |
| Minnesota | $80,550 |
| Mississippi | $61,830 |
| Missouri | $72,080 |
| Montana | $60,920 |
| Nebraska | $79,150 |
| Nevada | $67,410 |
| New Hampshire | $81,210 |
| New Jersey | $96,090 |
| New Mexico | $80,870 |
| New York | $80,560 |
| North Carolina | $63,340 |
| North Dakota | $75,340 |
| Ohio | $77,760 |
| Oklahoma | $63,980 |
| Oregon | $84,620 |
| Pennsylvania | $75,580 |
| Rhode Island | $63,110 |
| South Carolina | $65,460 |
| South Dakota | $57,910 |
| Tennessee | $74,390 |
| Texas | $78,710 |
| Utah | $65,780 |
| Vermont | $78,360 |
| Virginia | $83,230 |
| Washington | $97,250 |
| West Virginia | $69,600 |
| Wisconsin | $83,000 |
| Wyoming | $76,140 |
What the Work Is Like
O*NET surveys people who work as instructional coordinators about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:
- 100% work indoors in a climate-controlled space every day
- 100% use email every day
- 100% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
- 94% usually work more than 40 hours a week
- 63% spend more than half the workday sitting
- 50% have a lot of freedom to make decisions
- 41% speak in front of groups at least once a week
Education Workers Say the Job Needs
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Master's degree | 60% |
| Bachelor's degree | 25% |
| Post-master's certificate | 11% |
Tools and Software Instructional Specialists Use
Tools and equipment
Software
Is This Job a Good Fit for You?
People who do well in this job tend to enjoy helping, teaching or caring for people as well as leading, persuading and making business decisions.
Skills O*NET rates most important: Learning Strategies, Writing, Speaking, Instructing, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening.
Knowledge areas used most: Education and Training, English Language, Administration and Management, Mathematics, Computers and Electronics.
Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 5 of 5, which means extensive preparation.
Related Careers
These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:
Applying for an Instructional Specialist Job
- Teacher cover letter sample
- Resume or CV: which to send
- How to describe your work experience
- Job interview tips
- Interview thank-you note
The Job Explorer never charges candidates any money. If someone asks you to pay to apply for a instructional specialist job or to get hired, treat it as a warning sign.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035.
- O*NET 30.1 Database, occupation 25-9031.00 (Instructional Coordinators). View on O*NET OnLine.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The Job Explorer has modified some of the information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these changes.