Becoming a Substitute Teacher in Arkansas, Ar

Arkansas, with 454,000 students and 1,116 public schools, boasts one of the highest rated educational systems in the United States. Arkansas is known for its comprehensive teacher mentoring program, in which new teachers are assigned dedicated mentors for the first 1 to 3 years. Recently, Arkansas has been employing new teachers, which leads to an increased demand for substitute teachers as well. Substitute teaching has many advantages including more days off and the ability to feel out what it’s like to become a teacher without fully committing to all the necessary requirements of obtaining a full time salaried position. Potential substitute teachers need to be accepting of a flexible schedule that could go from a week or two off to a 3 week straight position. Overall, many teachers that have moved from substituting to full time positions highly value the experience and would recommend it, even if ultimately you do not wish to become a full time teacher.

Required Training, Qualifications, and Education

Arkansas does not require a Bachelor’s Degree in order to become a substitute teacher, consequently making it fairly easy to become one. A high school Diploma or GED equivalent is required to apply as well as completing fingerprinting and state and federal background checks. Other qualifications may be required by district.

Licensure and Certification

The following stipulations are required for submitting a substitute teacher application-

  • Submit the Substitute Application through a local school system
  • Include official transcript and references in application
  • Include required fees in application

For certification information please visit our Arkansas Teacher Certification page.

Career Expectations For Substitutes in Arkansas

While the economic downturn hit everyone fairly hard, educators faired better then many in terms of job and salary security. Arkansas was no exception to this, and coming out of the recession as allowed the state to continue expanding it’s educational system like most other states in the nation. More teachers being hired obviously means an increased demand for substitutes to take over when teachers are away, and now is a great time to consider a position as a substitute teacher. The population has been steadily growing which means teachers will continue to be in demand, which makes the educational system pretty secure in terms of job security, and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future.

Salary Expectation

The average substitute teacher in Arkansas can expect to make about $29,000 a year (according to bls.gov), with obvious salary fluctuations depending upon experience, qualification, and district. Compared nationally, Arkansas Substitute Teachers made about 3% less the average, however the state does have a lower cost of living then most. When compared with other positions that don’t require a Bachelor’s Degree, this is a fairly generous income considering there is a lot of downtime, as well as opportunities to make additional income tutoring or test proctoring.