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.
MAY 2025 · OCCUPATIONAL WAGES
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
Source wage group: Special Education Teachers, Middle School
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Special Education Teachers, Middle School. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Median annual wage$66,810USD per year · Published 50th percentile
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $49,420 | Not published |
| 25th | $60,000 | Not published |
| 50th · Median | $66,810 | Not published |
| 75th | $82,800 | Not published |
| 90th | $102,510 | Not published |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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THE WORK BEHIND THE TITLE
What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Blind TeacherBraille TeacherDeaf TeacherDHOH Teacher (Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher)EBD SPED Teacher (Emotional-Behavioral Disabilities Special Education Teacher)ED SPED Teacher (Emotional Disabilities Special Education Teacher)Emotionally Impaired TeacherHandicapped TeacherHearing Impaired Teacher (HI Teacher)Interrelated SPED Teacher (Interrelated Special Education Teacher)Intervention TeacherLearning Disabilities Special Education Teacher (LD SPED Teacher)
Expand more title examples (27)
Learning Disabilities Teacher (LD Teacher)Learning Disabled TeacherLearning Support TeacherLip Reading TeacherMentally Impaired TeacherMiddle School Resource TeacherMiddle School Students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities TeacherMMI Teacher (Mildly Mentally Impaired Teacher)MS SPED Teacher (Middle School Special Education Teacher)MS Teacher (Middle School Teacher)Physically Impaired TeacherRemedial Math Teacher (Remedial Mathematics Teacher)Remedial Reading TeacherSAI (Specialized Academic Instructor)School SPED Teacher (School Special Education Teacher)SED Middle School Teacher (Serious Emotional Disability Middle School Teacher)SED Middle School Teacher (Severe Emotional Disorders Middle School Teacher)Self-Contained SPED Teacher (Self-Contained Special Education Teacher)Sign Language TeacherSLD Teacher (Specific Learning Disability Teacher)Special Needs TeacherSPED Inclusion Teacher (Special Education Inclusion Teacher)SPED Math Teacher (Special Education Mathematics Teacher)SPED Middle School Teacher (Special Education Middle School Teacher)SPED Resource Teacher (Special Education Resource Teacher)SPED Teacher (Special Education Teacher)Visually Impaired Teacher
Typical tasks
- Develop or write Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students.
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students.
- Develop and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicapping conditions.
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Instruct students in daily living skills required for independent maintenance and self-sufficiency, such as hygiene, safety, and food preparation.
- Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification and positive reinforcement.
Expand more tasks (34)
- Modify the general education curriculum for students with disabilities, based upon a variety of instructional techniques and instructional technology.
- Employ special educational strategies and techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, and memory.
- Confer with parents or guardians, other teachers, counselors, and administrators to resolve students' behavioral and academic problems.
- Coordinate placement of students with special needs into mainstream classes.
- Confer with parents, administrators, testing specialists, social workers, and professionals to develop individual educational plans (IEPs) for students' educational, physical, and social development.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate those objectives to students.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records, and prepare reports on children and activities, as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Teach students personal development skills, such as goal setting, independence, and self-advocacy.
- Guide and counsel students with adjustments, academic problems, or special academic interests.
- Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
- Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies.
- Collaborate with other teachers that provide instruction to special education students to ensure that the students receive appropriate support.
- Monitor teachers and teacher assistants to ensure that they adhere to inclusive special education program requirements.
- Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and to determine priorities for their children and their resource needs.
- Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage.
- Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
- Use computers, audio-visual aids, and other equipment and materials to supplement presentations.
- Prepare objectives and outlines for courses of study, following curriculum guidelines or requirements of states and schools.
- Confer with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons promoting learning, following approved curricula.
- Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress.
- Prepare for assigned classes, and show written evidence of preparation upon request of immediate supervisors.
- Administer standardized ability and achievement tests, and interpret results to determine students' strengths and needs.
- Meet with parents and guardians to provide guidance in using community resources and to teach skills for dealing with students' impairments.
- Provide additional instruction in vocational areas.
- Organize and label materials and display students' work.
- Attend staff meetings and serve on committees, as required.
- Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence.
- Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guest speakers, or other experiential activities, and guide students in learning from those activities.
- Perform administrative duties, such as school library assistance, hall and cafeteria monitoring, and bus loading and unloading.
- Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies.
- Provide assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.
- Supervise, evaluate, and plan assignments for teacher assistants and volunteers.
- Organize and supervise games and other recreational activities to promote physical, mental, and social development.
- Visit schools to tutor students with sensory impairments and to consult with teachers regarding students' special needs.
Skills used in this work
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Expand more skills (29)
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
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