Education & Library
Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
Also called: Education Specialist, Emotional Disability Special Education Teacher (ED SPED Teacher), Exceptional Student Education Teacher (ESE Teacher), Handicapped Teacher
US median pay
$74,260
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
-0.2%
declining
Openings a year (US)
10,400
164,800 employed
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Preparation 4/5 · Considerable preparation
What this job is
Teach academic, social, and life skills to secondary school students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. Includes teachers who specialize and work with students who are blind or have visual impairments; students who are deaf or have hearing impairments; and students with intellectual disabilities.
What they do day to day
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records, and prepare reports on children and activities, as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Confer with parents, administrators, testing specialists, social workers, or other professionals to develop individual educational plans (IEPs) for students' educational, physical, and social development.
- Employ special educational strategies and techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, and memory.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate those objectives to students.
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification and positive reinforcement.
- Confer with parents or guardians, other teachers, counselors, and administrators to resolve students' behavioral and academic problems.
- Develop and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicapping conditions.
- Teach personal development skills, such as goal setting, independence, and self-advocacy.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Instructing4.1/5
- Social Perceptiveness3.9/5
- Service Orientation3.9/5
- Coordination3.9/5
- Time Management3.8/5
- Complex Problem Solving3.8/5
- Judgment and Decision Making3.6/5
- Systems Evaluation3.0/5
Knowledge
- Education and Training4.8/5
- English Language4.6/5
- Psychology4.2/5
- Customer and Personal Service3.9/5
- Therapy and Counseling3.6/5
- Computers and Electronics3.5/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 4 of 5 — Considerable preparation. Usually a bachelor's degree and several years of related experience.
Typical entry education (BLS): Bachelor's degree.
Highest education of people in this job:
- Bachelor's degree42%
- Master's degree42%
- Post-baccalaureate certificate15%
Who this job suits
Mostly Social
Helping, teaching and caring for people
Investigative
Ideas, research and solving problems
Artistic
Creating, designing and self-expression
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.