Explore by Career/Educational Instruction and Library

Special Education Teachers, Secondary School

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.

Median pay: $69,590; per year
10-year outlook: -1.6%; Declining
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree

Key skills

Learning Strategies
Reading Comprehension
Active Listening
Writing
Speaking
Social Perceptiveness
Instructing
Service Orientation

What they do

Develop and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicapping conditions.
Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students.
Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification and positive reinforcement.
Maintain accurate and complete student records, and prepare reports on children and activities, as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies.
Employ special educational strategies and techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, and memory.
Meet with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress.
Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and to determine priorities for their children and their resource needs.
Modify the general education curriculum for students with disabilities, based upon a variety of instructional techniques and technologies.

Majors that lead here

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