Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
The occupation Special Education Teachers, Secondary School covers people who teach academic, social, and life skills to secondary school students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities. One core duty is to establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students. Its interest code is SIA. Social leads at 7.0 out of 7, so expect helping, teaching or caring for people, with Investigative next at 3.8. Plan on a bachelor’s degree plus a period of work experience; O*NET labels this considerable preparation. Strength in learning strategies, instructing, and speaking helps most here. People who want helping, teaching or caring for people usually fit better here than those who need leading, persuading and making business decisions.
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.
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.
Skills
- Learning Strategies
- Instructing
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Social Perceptiveness
Who this career fits
May suit you if
- You get energy from helping other people move forward.
- You enjoy working out why something happens, not just what happened.
- You are ready to spend around four years on a degree, then build experience.
- You are comfortable relying on learning strategies and instructing.
May not suit you if
- You find a full day of dealing with people draining.
- You want to lead people or run the business side. Enterprising rates 1.9 out of 7 here.
- You want to avoid a four-year degree or its equivalent.
Interest profile
O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code SIA takes the three highest, and Social comes first here.
Preparation
Considerable preparation. Most jobs here ask for a bachelor’s degree, and employers usually expect a few years of related experience as well.
Most-reported requirement in the O*NET survey: Bachelor's Degree. This reflects what workers reported most often and is not a legal minimum. Licensing rules can differ by state or industry, so confirm what applies where you plan to work.
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)
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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.