Career Explorer Education
Changing shape
Special education teachers, middle school
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.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 25% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it high), and US jobs are projected to change by -0.4% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on emotional intelligence and creative vision.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $66,810
- Job growth to 2035
- -0.4%
- Openings a year
- 6,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 94,800
- Usual route in
- Bachelor's degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Advise others on educational or vocational matters
- Prepare informational or instructional materials
- Teach life skills
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Develop educational programs, plans, or procedures
- Collaborate in the development of educational programs
- Assess student capabilities, needs, or performance
What the work looks like
- Develop or write Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students.
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students.
- Develop and implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of handicapping conditions.
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Instruct students in daily living skills required for independent maintenance and self-sufficiency, such as hygiene, safety, and food preparation.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Rehabilitation counselorsChanging shape, Index 48, +2.2%
- Career/technical education teachers, middle schoolChanging shape, Index 33, -0.5%
- Special education teachers, preschoolChanging shape, Index 45, +2.4%
- Dietitians and nutritionistsGrows with AI, Index 35, +7.7%
Also known as: Learning Support Teacher, MS SPED Teacher (Middle School Special Education Teacher), SPED Resource Teacher (Special Education Resource Teacher), SPED Teacher (Special Education Teacher), ED SPED Teacher (Emotional Disabilities Special Education Teacher), Interrelated SPED Teacher (Interrelated Special Education Teacher), Learning Disabilities Teacher (LD Teacher), Middle School Resource Teacher.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.