Career profile Special Education High School Teacher

Table of Contents

• What does a Special Education High School Teacher do?
• What is a typical salary for a Special Education High School Teacher?
• What personality traits are common among Special Education High School Teachers?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Special Education High School Teachers need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does a Special Education High School Teacher do?

Special Education High School Teachers teach academic, social, and life skills to secondary school students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities.

In addition, Special Education High School Teachers 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.

What kind of tasks does a Special Education High School Teacher perform regularly?

Special Education High School Teachers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• Develop and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicapping conditions.
• Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
• Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
• Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification and positive reinforcement.
• Meet with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress.
• Maintain accurate and complete student records, and prepare reports on children and activities, as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
• Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies.
• Employ special educational strategies and techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, and memory.
• Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and to determine their priorities for their children.
• Modify the general education curriculum for special-needs students, based upon a variety of instructional techniques and technologies.
• Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
• Coordinate placement of students with special needs into mainstream classes.
• Teach personal development skills, such as goal setting, independence, and self-advocacy.
• Confer with parents or guardians, other teachers, counselors, and administrators to resolve students' behavioral and academic problems.
• Confer with parents, administrators, testing specialists, social workers, and professionals to develop individual educational plans designed to promote students' educational, physical, and social development.
• Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
• Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate these objectives to students.
• Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress.
• Monitor teachers and teacher assistants to ensure that they adhere to inclusive special education program requirements.
• Prepare students for later grades by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
• Guide and counsel students with adjustment or academic problems, or special academic interests.
• Administer standardized ability and achievement tests and interpret results to determine students' strengths and areas of need.
• Instruct students in daily living skills required for independent maintenance and self-sufficiency, such as hygiene, safety, and food preparation.
• Confer with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons that promote learning, following approved curricula.
• Prepare for assigned classes and show written evidence of preparation upon request of immediate supervisors.
• Prepare objectives and outlines for courses of study, following curriculum guidelines or requirements of states and schools.
• Provide additional instruction in vocational areas.
• Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment or materials to prevent injuries and damage.
• Use computers, audio-visual aids, and other equipment and materials to supplement presentations.
• Collaborate with other teachers and administrators in the development, evaluation, and revision of secondary school programs.
• Provide assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.
• 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.
• Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guest speakers, contests, or other experiential activities, and guide students in learning from those activities.
• Attend staff meetings and serve on committees, as required.
• Perform administrative duties, such as assisting in school libraries, 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.

The above responsibilities are specific to Special Education High School Teachers. More generally, Special Education High School Teachers are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is a Special Education High School Teacher salary?

What personality traits are common among Special Education High School Teachers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Special Education High School Teacher are usually higher in their Social, Investigative, and Artistic interests.

Special Education High School Teachers typically have very strong Social interests. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Also, Special Education High School Teachers typically have moderate Investigative interests. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Lastly, Special Education High School Teachers typically have moderate Artistic interests. Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Special Education High School Teacher tend to value Relationships, Achievement, and Independence.

Most importantly, Special Education High School Teachers very strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Second, Special Education High School Teachers strongly value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Lastly, Special Education High School Teachers strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Special Education High School Teachers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as dependability, concern for others, and stress tolerance.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Special Education High School Teachers, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Special Education High School Teachers need?

Many Special Education High School Teachers will have a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Special Education High School Teachers usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Educational degrees among Special Education High School Teachers

• 0.3% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 3.9% completed high school or secondary school
• 5.3% completed some college coursework
• 3.5% earned a Associate's degree
• 33.4% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 50.1% earned a Master's degree
• 3.5% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Special Education High School Teachers

Important Abilities needed by Special Education High School Teachers

Special Education High School Teachers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Special Education High School Teachers need abilities such as speech clarity, oral comprehension, and written comprehension in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Special Education High School Teachers, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Special Education High School Teachers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Special Education High School Teachers frequently use skills like learning strategies, reading comprehension, and active listening to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Special Education High School Teachers, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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