Editing Teaching assistant (section)

{{short description|Individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities}}
{{for|teaching assistants in UK schools|Teaching assistant (United Kingdom)}}
[[Image:US_Navy_061026-N-5271J-014_Jennifer_Tonder_(right),_a_teacher's_aide_for_a_3rd-4th_grade_multi-age_class,_discusses_the_various_books_available_from_the_Reading_Is_Fundamental_(RIF)_grant_given_to_Sasebo_Elementary_School_with.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A teaching assistant interacts with a reading child in October 2006 at [[United States Fleet Activities Sasebo|U.S. Sasebo]] [[List of United States Navy installations|Naval base]]]]

A '''teaching assistant''' ('''TA''') or '''education assistant''' ('''EA''') is an individual who assists a [[professor]] or [[teacher]] with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are [[graduate school|graduate]] students; ''undergraduate teaching assistants'' (UTAs), who are [[undergraduate]] students; ''secondary school TAs'', who are either high school students or adults; and ''elementary school TAs'', who are adults (also known as ''[[paraprofessional educator]]s'' or ''teacher's aides'').

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]],<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Butler, D.D. |author2=J.F. Laumer Jr. |author3=M. Moore | year=1993| title=A content analysis of pedagogical and policy information used in training graduate teaching assistants| journal=Journal for Higher Education Management | volume=9 |issue=1| pages=27–37}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Gray| first=P.L.|author2=N. Buerkel-Rothfuss | year=1991| chapter=Teaching assistant training: A view from the trenches| editor=J. D. Nyquist |editor2=R. D. Abbott |editor3=D. H. Wulff |editor4=J. Sprague | title=Preparing the professorate of tomorrow to teach| pages=40–51| location=Dubuque, Iowa| publisher=Kendall/Hunt}}</ref> 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.