Explore by Career/Educational Instruction and Library

Special Education Teachers, Middle School

Teach academic, social, and life skills to middle 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.

Median pay: $64,880; per year
10-year outlook: -1.9%; Declining
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree

Key skills

Speaking
Instructing
Active Listening
Active Learning
Learning Strategies
Reading Comprehension
Critical Thinking
Social Perceptiveness

What they do

Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students.
Modify the general education curriculum for students with disabilities, based upon a variety of instructional techniques and instructional technology.
Develop or write Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students.
Maintain accurate and complete student records, and prepare reports on children and activities, as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
Develop and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicapping conditions.
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.
Confer with parents, administrators, testing specialists, social workers, and professionals to develop individual educational plans (IEPs) for students' educational, physical, and social development.
Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
Employ special educational strategies and techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, and memory.

Majors that lead here

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.