Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary
Plan, direct, or coordinate the academic, administrative, or auxiliary activities of kindergarten, elementary, or secondary schools.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Learning Strategies
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Management of Personnel Resources
Key knowledge
- Education and Training
- Administration and Management
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Psychology
- Administrative
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Review and approve new programs, or recommend modifications to existing programs, submitting program proposals for school board approval as necessary.
- Prepare, maintain, or oversee the preparation and maintenance of attendance, activity, planning, or personnel reports and records.
- Confer with parents and staff to discuss educational activities, policies, and student behavior or learning problems.
- Prepare and submit budget requests and recommendations, or grant proposals to solicit program funding.
- Counsel and provide guidance to students regarding personal, academic, vocational, or behavioral issues.
- Organize and direct committees of specialists, volunteers, and staff to provide technical and advisory assistance for programs.
- Teach classes or courses to students.
- Plan and develop instructional methods and content for educational, vocational, or student activity programs.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Enterprising, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Master's Degree (62.3% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (36%)
- On-the-job training
- None or short demonstration (32.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 85% of occupations compared | 87% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 76% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 99% of occupations compared | 93% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 65% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 76% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 95% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 76% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 82% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 6.54%
- Contact with others most of the time: 6.57%
- Constant contact with others: 86.88%
n = 42, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 7.04%
- Important: 25.08%
- Very important: 21.42%
- Extremely important: 46.46%
n = 41, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 6.59%
- Extremely important: 93.41%
n = 42, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 14.28%
- Some freedom: 42.78%
- A lot of freedom: 42.94%
n = 42, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 60.75%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 28.26%
- Every day: 10.99%
n = 42, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9.61%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 23.92%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 31.54%
- Every day: 34.94%
n = 42, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0.04%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.69%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 44.05%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20.83%
- Every day: 15.39%
n = 42, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 35.45%
- Fairly serious: 26.58%
- Serious: 21.23%
- Very serious: 7.95%
- Extremely serious: 8.79%
n = 41, Incumbent 08/2026
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
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Closeness 92/100
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Social and Community Service Managers
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- Analyze
Training and Development Specialists
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Training and Development Managers
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Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 11-9032.00 · SOC 11-9032 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8