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Special Education Teachers, Secondary School

Typical education: Bachelor's degreeHigh pressure

What they do

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.

Kinds of work

  • Social: Helping, teaching, caring for and supporting other people.
  • Investigative: Science, research, figuring out how things work and solving complex problems.
  • Artistic: Creating, designing and expressing ideas through art, writing, music or performance.

High pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $74,260 Median per year Most earn $49,800–$109,100

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • Use computers, audio-visual aids, and other equipment and materials to supplement presentations.
  • Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification and positive reinforcement.
  • Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
  • Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress.
  • Prepare students for later grades by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
  • Provide assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.

Job outlook

United States
About the same number of jobs by 2035, little or no change · about 10,400 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • Elementary and secondary schools96.6%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: 6 months to 1 year

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: Bachelor's degreeExperience before this job: 6 months to 1 year

You can often start in this job right after a bachelor's degree and a teaching license, though many people first spend 6 months to 1 year working with students in a support role. The whole route usually takes about 4 to 5 years.

  1. Bachelor's degree in special education

    4 years

    You learn how to teach students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities, plus how to write individualized plans and manage classrooms. Most programs include student teaching, which gives you real classroom practice before you graduate.

  2. Teaching Assistant, Special Education

    6 months to 1 year

    You help special education teachers and students in daily lessons, which shows you how a secondary classroom runs and builds the experience schools look for. This step is common but not required if you finish student teaching strongly.

  3. Special Education Teacher, Secondary School

    Ongoing

    You teach academic, social, and life skills to middle and high school students with disabilities, usually after earning your state teaching license.

Where it can lead

  1. Lead Special Education Teacher

    3-5 years of experience first

    You take on mentoring new teachers, helping plan programs, and leading team meetings for students' plans, which builds leadership skills while you keep teaching.

  2. Special Education Department Chair

    5-10 years of experience first

    You oversee the special education teachers and programs in a school, making decisions about staffing, schedules, and student support, and you usually need strong teaching results and leadership experience.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take psychology or child development classesThese courses introduce how people learn and grow, which helps you understand students with different needs.
  • Volunteer with people who have disabilitiesMany towns have community programs, such as adaptive sports or day programs, where you can see what support looks like in practice.
  • Become a peer tutorHelping classmates with schoolwork builds teaching skills and shows you how to explain ideas in different ways.
  • Join a unified sports or peer buddy clubMany schools have clubs that pair students with and without disabilities, which gives you a comfortable way to build relationships.
  • Babysit or work as a camp counselorCaring for kids over the summer teaches you routines, patience, and how to keep a group engaged.

In college

  • Major in special educationA special education major covers teaching methods, behavior support, and writing individualized plans, which are the core of this job.
  • Student teach or intern in a special education classroomSupervised classroom time helps you test whether this work fits you and gives you experience to show employers.
  • Work as a paraprofessional or teaching assistantPaid support work during school or breaks gives you practical experience and helps you learn how a classroom runs day to day.
  • Learn sign language or take a course on autism or behavior supportThese skills are useful for teaching students who are deaf or hard of hearing or who need specific behavior strategies.
  • Get CPR and first aid certificationMany schools and programs ask for this training, and it helps you respond safely if a student needs medical help.

Tips for getting started

  • Ask your school counselor about the teaching license requirements in your state early, since each state sets its own rules and some require extra tests.
  • Get hands-on time with students who have disabilities, because schools value real experience working with them as much as grades.
  • Build patience and communication skills, such as clear explaining and calm problem-solving, since these matter every day in this job.

Related jobs that often lead here

Related jobs a step up

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

College majors that lead here

Majors: U.S. Department of Education and BLS (CIP–SOC crosswalk). Earnings and debt: College Scorecard, typical across U.S. colleges.

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