Preschool, Elementary, Middle, Secondary, and Special Education Teachers

How to become a Secondary School Special Education Teacher

Official title: 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, HS SPED Teacher (High School Special Education Teacher), Learning Disabilities Special Education Teacher (LD Special Education Teacher), Learning Support Teacher, Special Day Class Teacher (SDC Teacher), SPED Resource Teacher (Special Education Resource Teacher), SPED Teacher (Special Education Teacher)

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.

Main tasks

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.

How to become one

Special education teachers in public schools are required to have a bachelor's degree and a state-issued certification or license. Teachers in private schools typically need a bachelor's degree but may not be required to have a state license or certification.

Typical education to start: Bachelor's degree

Read the full guide from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Ways in

College: Education & Teaching degrees, Offered by 35 universities in the US
Licence: A licence is required in 45 states.

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

Median pay: $74,260 a year The middle half earn $60,180 to $93,730.
About 164,800 people work in this job now, and about 164,500 are projected by 2035. (-0.2%)
People already use generative AI for some of this work. Microsoft Research rates its AI applicability as medium.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Secondary School Special Education Teacher?

How much does a Secondary School Special Education Teacher earn in the US?

Median full-time pay is $74,260 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The middle half earn $60,180 to $93,730.

Is a Secondary School Special Education Teacher a growing career in the US?

Employment is projected to stay about the same by 2035: about 164,800 people now and 164,500 later (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Do you need a degree to become a Secondary School Special Education Teacher?

Usually. 90% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a Secondary School Special Education Teacher?

People already use generative AI for some of this work. Microsoft Research rates its AI applicability as medium.

Sources

Microsoft Research: Working with AI: AI applicability by occupation (2025-12-22 (built on O*NET 29.0)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Projections (2025-35 (released 2026-08-27)), Public domain (BLS), retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook (2025-35 edition (published 2026-08-27)), Public domain (BLS); photographs excluded, retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), Public domain (BLS), retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.