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.
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, Secondary School
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Special Education Teachers, Secondary 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$74,260USD per year · Published 50th percentile
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $49,800 | Not published |
| 25th | $60,180 | Not published |
| 50th · Median | $74,260 | Not published |
| 75th | $93,730 | Not published |
| 90th | $109,100 | 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 TeacherCross-Categorical SPED Teacher (Cross-Categorical Special Education Teacher)Deaf TeacherEducation SpecialistEmotional Disability Special Education Teacher (ED SPED Teacher)Emotionally Impaired TeacherExceptional Children's Teacher (EC Teacher)Exceptional Student Education Teacher (ESE Teacher)Handicapped TeacherHearing Impaired TeacherHigh School Learning Support Teacher
Expand more title examples (39)
HS SPED Teacher (High School Special Education Teacher)Inclusion CoordinatorInclusion Special EducatorInclusion SpecialistInclusion TeacherInterrelated SPED Teacher (Interrelated Special Education Teacher)Learning Disabilities Special Education Teacher (LD Special Education Teacher)Learning Disabled Teacher (LD Teacher)Learning SpecialistLearning Support TeacherLife Skills TeacherLip Reading TeacherMI Teacher (Mentally Impaired Teacher)Physically Impaired TeacherReading SpecialistRemedial Math Teacher (Remedial Mathematics Teacher)Remedial Reading TeacherResource Center TeacherResource SpecialistResource Specialist TeacherResource TeacherRSP Specialist (Resource Specialist Program Specialist)Secondary School SPED Teacher (Secondary School Special Education Teacher)Secondary SPED Teacher (Secondary Special Education Teacher)SED High School Teacher (Serious Emotional Disability High School Teacher)Self-Contained Classroom SPED Teacher (Self-Contained Classroom Special Education Teacher)Severe Emotional Disorders High School TeacherSign Language TeacherSpecial Day Class Teacher (SDC Teacher)Special EducatorSPED Inclusion Teacher (Special Education Inclusion Teacher)SPED Instructor (Special Education Instructor)SPED Itinerant Teacher (Special Education Itinerant Teacher)SPED Math Teacher (Special Education Mathematics Teacher)SPED Resource Teacher (Special Education Resource Teacher)SPED Teacher (Special Education Teacher)TeacherTransition TeacherVisually Impaired Teacher
Typical 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.
Expand more tasks (34)
- 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.
- Develop and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicapping conditions.
- Teach personal development skills, such as goal setting, independence, and self-advocacy.
- Prepare students for later grades by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
- Modify the general education curriculum for students with disabilities, based upon a variety of instructional techniques and technologies.
- Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
- Confer with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons promoting learning, following approved curricula.
- Meet with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress.
- Coordinate placement of students with special needs into mainstream classes.
- Prepare objectives and outlines for courses of study, following curriculum guidelines or requirements of states and schools.
- Guide and counsel students with adjustments, academic problems, or special academic interests.
- Monitor teachers and teacher assistants to ensure that they adhere to inclusive special education program requirements.
- 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.
- Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and to determine priorities for their children and their resource needs.
- Provide assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.
- Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies.
- Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress.
- Collaborate with other teachers and administrators in the development, evaluation, and revision of secondary school programs.
- Instruct students in daily living skills required for independent maintenance and self-sufficiency, such as hygiene, safety, and food preparation.
- Administer standardized ability and achievement tests, and interpret results to determine students' strengths and needs.
- Prepare for assigned classes, and show written evidence of preparation upon request of immediate supervisors.
- Meet with parents and guardians to provide guidance in using community resources and to teach skills for dealing with students' impairments.
- Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence.
- Attend staff meetings and serve on committees, as required.
- Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guest speakers, or other experiential activities, and guide students in learning from those activities.
- Provide additional instruction in vocational areas.
- Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage.
- Provide interpretation and transcription of regular classroom materials through Braille and sign language.
- Perform administrative duties, such as school library assistance, hall and cafeteria monitoring, and bus loading and unloading.
- Sponsor extracurricular activities, such as clubs, student organizations, and academic contests.
- Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies.
- 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.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- 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.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Expand more skills (29)
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- 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.
- 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.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- 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.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- 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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