Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
Also called: Blind Teacher, Braille Teacher, Cross-Categorical SPED Teacher (Cross-Categorical Special Education Teacher), Deaf Teacher, Education Specialist, Emotional Disability Special Education Teacher (ED SPED Teacher), Emotionally Impaired Teacher, Exceptional Children's Teacher (EC Teacher)
Teach academic, social, and life skills to secondary school students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities.
What special education teachers, secondary school do
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.
- 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.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Special Education Teachers, Secondary School salary
The median annual wage for special education teachers, secondary school is $74,260 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $49,800 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $109,100. The mean annual wage is $77,260.
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $74,260 → in 3 years $80,700 → in 5 years $85,400 → in 10 years $98,100 (10-year range $84,400–$113,900). The model assumes pay growth of +2.8% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Special Education Teachers, Secondary School? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
Skills, education and requirements for Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Education of workers
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 4 — considerable preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★★★☆☆ Moderate (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become special education teachers, secondary school
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as special education teachers, secondary school
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.