Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Special Education Teachers, Middle School
Occupation · SOC 25-2057.00
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.
Also called: Intervention Specialist · Middle School Special Education Teacher (MS SPED Teacher) · SPED Resource Teacher (Special Education Resource Teacher) · Special Education Teacher (SPED Teacher) · Exceptional Children Teacher (EC Teacher) · Exceptional Student Education Teacher (ESE Teacher) · Inclusion Teacher · Learning Disabilities Teacher (LD Teacher) · Learning Support Teacher · Self-Contained Special Education Teacher (Self-Contained SPED Teacher) · Blind Teacher · Braille Teacher
Job family: Educational Instruction and Library Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-25-2057-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- Declining employment outlook (-1.9% by 2034)
- 6,300 openings/yr
- Moderate AI exposure
- Median pay $64,880/yr
51st-percentile task overlap — yet about 6,300 openings a year (-1.9% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Moderate | 45th | 0.5 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Moderate | 57th | 0.2 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.1), with simple added tooling (β 0.3), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.5). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
How AI is actually used in this job
Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.
| Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress. | 4.2% | |
| Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies. | 3.7% | |
| Use computers, audio-visual aids, and other equipment and materials to supplement presentations. | 3.1% | |
| Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health. | 1.8% | |
| Organize and label materials and display students' work. | 1.6% | |
| Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities. | 1.4% |
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | Declining · -1.9% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 6,300 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 94,800 → 93,000 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Tasks
All 40 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Develop or write Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students. Core · importance 4.5
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students. Core · importance 4.5
- Develop and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicapping conditions. Core · importance 4.5
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities. Core · importance 4.4
- Instruct students in daily living skills required for independent maintenance and self-sufficiency, such as hygiene, safety, and food preparation. Core · importance 4.4
- Confer with parents or guardians, other teachers, counselors, and administrators to resolve students' behavioral and academic problems. Core · importance 4.3
- Coordinate placement of students with special needs into mainstream classes. Core · importance 4.3
- Confer with parents, administrators, testing specialists, social workers, and professionals to develop individual educational plans (IEPs) for students' educational, physical, and social development. Core · importance 4.3
- Modify the general education curriculum for special-needs students, based upon a variety of instructional techniques and instructional technology. Core · importance 4.3
- Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification and positive reinforcement. Core · importance 4.3
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate those objectives to students. Core · importance 4.3
- Guide and counsel students with adjustments, academic problems, or special academic interests. Core · importance 4.3
- Teach students personal development skills, such as goal setting, independence, and self-advocacy. Core · importance 4.3
- Employ special educational strategies and techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, and memory. Core · importance 4.2
- Maintain accurate and complete student records, and prepare reports on children and activities, as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations. Core · importance 4.2
- Collaborate with other teachers that provide instruction to special education students to ensure that the students receive appropriate support. Core · importance 4.2
- Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies. Core · importance 4.2
- Monitor teachers and teacher assistants to ensure that they adhere to inclusive special education program requirements. Core · importance 4.2
- Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and to determine priorities for their children and their resource needs. Core · importance 4.1
- Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health. Core · importance 4.1
- Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage. Core · importance 4.1
- Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate. Core · importance 4.1
- Confer with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons promoting learning, following approved curricula. Core · importance 4.0
- Prepare objectives and outlines for courses of study, following curriculum guidelines or requirements of states and schools. Core · importance 4.0
- Use computers, audio-visual aids, and other equipment and materials to supplement presentations. Core · importance 4.0
- Administer standardized ability and achievement tests, and interpret results to determine students' strengths and needs. Core · importance 3.9
- Prepare for assigned classes, and show written evidence of preparation upon request of immediate supervisors. Core · importance 3.9
- Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress. Core · importance 3.9
- Meet with parents and guardians to provide guidance in using community resources and to teach skills for dealing with students' impairments. Core · importance 3.8
- Provide assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms. Core · importance 3.8
- Supervise, evaluate, and plan assignments for teacher assistants and volunteers. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Organize and supervise games and other recreational activities to promote physical, mental, and social development. Core · importance 3.7
- Provide additional instruction in vocational areas. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Organize and label materials and display students' work. Core · importance 3.6
- Attend staff meetings and serve on committees, as required. Core · importance 3.5
- Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence. Core · importance 3.5
- Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guest speakers, or other experiential activities, and guide students in learning from those activities. Core · importance 3.4
- Visit schools to tutor students with sensory impairments and to consult with teachers regarding students' special needs. Supplemental · importance 3.3
- Perform administrative duties, such as school library assistance, hall and cafeteria monitoring, and bus loading and unloading. Core · importance 3.3
- Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies. Core · importance 2.9
Emerging tasks
Newer responsibilities O*NET has flagged as growing for this occupation.
- Track students' progress on computer-based programs, such as reading fluency and comprehension.
Work activities
- Design psychological or educational treatment procedures or programs.
- Develop educational programs.
- Collaborate with other teaching professionals to develop educational programs.
- Assist students with special educational needs.
- Establish rules or policies governing student behavior.
- Maintain student records.
- Prepare reports detailing student activities or performance.
- Set up classroom materials or equipment.
- Develop strategies or programs for students with special needs.
- Teach life skills.
- Modify teaching methods or materials to accommodate student needs.
- Discuss problems or issues with supervisors.
- Discuss student progress with parents or guardians.
- Apply multiple teaching methods.
- Administer tests to assess educational needs or progress.
- Prepare tests.
- Evaluate student work.
- Advise students on academic or career matters.
- Monitor student performance.
- Monitor student behavior, social development, or health.
- Develop instructional objectives.
- Plan educational activities.
- Document lesson plans.
- Direct activities of subordinates.
- Evaluate performance of educational staff.
- Supervise student research or internship work.
- Teach others to use technology or equipment.
- Display student work.
- Create technology-based learning materials.
- Attend training sessions or professional meetings to develop or maintain professional knowledge.
- Supervise school or student activities.
- Serve on institutional or departmental committees.
- Plan experiential learning activities.
- Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products.
- Distribute instructional or library materials.
- Order instructional or library materials or equipment.
- Teach vocational courses.
- Tutor students who need extra assistance.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Knowledge
| English Language | 4.5 | |
| Education and Training | 4.4 | |
| Mathematics | 4.0 | |
| Administrative | 3.8 | |
| Customer and Personal Service | 3.6 | |
| Psychology | 3.5 | |
| Sociology and Anthropology | 3.3 | |
| Public Safety and Security | 3.3 | |
| Law and Government | 3.0 |
Essential skills
| Active Listening | 4.0 | |
| Speaking | 4.0 | |
| Active Learning | 4.0 | |
| Learning Strategies | 4.0 | |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.9 | |
| Writing | 3.9 | |
| Monitoring | 3.9 | |
| Critical Thinking | 3.8 |
Transferable skills
| Social Perceptiveness | 4.0 | |
| Instructing | 4.0 | |
| Coordination | 3.9 | |
| Service Orientation | 3.9 | |
| Time Management | 3.8 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.6 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.6 | |
| Persuasion | 3.1 | |
| Negotiation | 3.0 |
Abilities
| Oral Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Oral Expression | 4.0 | |
| Written Comprehension | 3.9 | |
| Written Expression | 3.9 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.9 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.9 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.9 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.9 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.9 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.8 | |
| Originality | 3.5 | |
| Near Vision | 3.5 | |
| Selective Attention | 3.1 | |
| Fluency of Ideas | 3.0 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Showing the top 40 of 41.
Tools & technology
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Typical entry-level education
- Bachelor's degree · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
- Preparation level
- SVP (7.0 to < 8.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Education . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Bachelor's Degree | 82.1% | |
| Master's Degree | 17.5% | |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 0.4% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Work styles
| Integrity | 10.0 | |
| Cooperation | 9.0 | |
| Social Orientation | 8.0 | |
| Self-Control | 7.0 | |
| Stress Tolerance | 6.0 | |
| Empathy | 5.0 | |
| Adaptability | 4.0 |
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Social | 7.0 | |
| Artistic | 4.0 | |
| Investigative | 3.9 | |
| Conventional | 3.3 |
Interest areas
| Teaching/Education | 6.8 | |
| Social Service | 6.6 | |
| Professional Advising | 4.8 | |
| Social Science | 3.8 | |
| Personal Service | 3.1 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $48,070 |
| 25th percentile | $58,590 |
| Median (50th) | $64,880 |
| 75th percentile | $81,940 |
| 90th percentile | $102,730 |
| People employed | 95,330 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Educational Services · Sector | 95,030 | $64,840 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance · Sector | 70 | $73,260 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | — | $90,430 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | — | $90,430 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Educational Services · Sector | 11.27× | 95,030 |
Related occupations
Part of the Education career cluster.
- Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten · 25-2055.00 Compare →
- Special Education Teachers, Elementary School · 25-2056.00 Compare →
- Special Education Teachers, Secondary School · 25-2058.00 Compare →
- Special Education Teachers, Preschool · 25-2051.00 Compare →
- Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors · 25-3011.00 Compare →
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · 25-2021.00 Compare →
- Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education · 25-2022.00 Compare →
- Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education · 25-2031.00 Compare →
- Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education · 25-2012.00 Compare →
- Teaching Assistants, Special Education · 25-9043.00 Compare →
- Tutors · 25-3041.00 Compare →
- Education Teachers, Postsecondary · 25-1081.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Special Education Teachers, Middle School — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
- Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten Compare →
- Special Education Teachers, Elementary School Compare →
- Special Education Teachers, Secondary School Compare →
- Special Education Teachers, Preschool Compare →
- Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors Compare →
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- Bachelor's degree · typical entry level
- Job zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Education · field of study
Zoom out
See where this work sits in the bigger picture.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Special Education Teachers, Middle School show 51st-percentile AI task overlap — and about 6,300 annual U.S. openings
- Special Education Teachers, Middle School rank in the 51st percentile (Moderate band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 6,300 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be declining (-1.9%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $64,880, across about 95,330 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Special Education Teachers, Middle School show 51st-percentile AI task overlap — and about 6,300 annual U.S. openings • Special Education Teachers, Middle School rank in the 51st percentile (Moderate band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 6,300 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be declining (-1.9%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $64,880, across about 95,330 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Special Education Teachers, Middle School". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-25-2057-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Special Education Teachers, Middle School." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-25-2057-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Special Education Teachers, Middle School. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-25-2057-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-25-2057-00,
title = {Special Education Teachers, Middle School},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-25-2057-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.