Special education teachers handle a wide range of responsibilities — from lesson planning and instruction to advocacy and social support. Each of their students requires highly individualized education and support services, and lessons and assignments must conform to those requirements.
Special education teachers often work with students in small groups or one-on-one, providing a tailored learning experience that may be supplemented with the use of assistive technology.
As a special education teacher, you may teach students with moderate to severe exceptionalities. This category includes a wide range of congenital, acquired and developmental conditions. Students with moderate to severe exceptionalities tend to display impactful limitations in one or more areas.
For example, some indicators of moderate exceptionalities include:3
- The child has a non-correctable, yet stable condition
- The child can carry out fundamental self-care tasks appropriate for their age range as long as they have assistance (e.g., dressing, feeding and toileting)
- The child may require modifications to the home or school environment
- The child may need assistance with functions such as communication
Indicators of moderate to severe exceptionalities may include:3
- Developmental or learning disorders
- Emotional or behavioral impairments
- Cognitive impairments
- Physical deficits
As a special education teacher at the elementary level, you’ll need to provide these children with the tools and support they need to overcome these challenges to the extent of their abilities. For example, a child who is nonverbal or has limited verbal communication skills may be taught to use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.
Early childhood special education is critical for young children with exceptionalities. Also known as early intervention, this approach seeks to identify children who are at risk and provide needed services early in life so as to reduce the risk of developmental delays.
About one in six children will have a developmental delay or disorder. With evidence-based early intervention services that embrace a family-centered model, about one-third of children who are at-risk for a disability will come out of early intervention without a disability and without needing additional intervention services.4
What do special education teachers do at the preschool level? As an early childhood educator who focuses on special education, you can help meet the developmental, social and psychological needs of young children so they can be prepared to reach their full potential.
At this level, special education teachers focus on the foundational academic, socioemotional, behavioral and motor skills necessary for continued learning. They teach pre-literacy and pre-math skills, including the alphabet, numbers, colors and shapes. They also help children learn about making friends, taking turns and sharing.
Each child in special education receives an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The IEP is a dynamic document, meaning that it is periodically modified to adapt to the student’s changing needs and goals. Special education teachers serve as an important member of the child’s IEP team, which meets to discuss the child’s identified needs, develop goals, create the IEP and modify it as needed.
Teachers serve as advocates for children with exceptionalities and their families. They speak up and request additional resources and support when they are needed, for example, and they ensure that the IEP is implemented properly.
Another significant task for special education teachers is curriculum development. Students receiving special education services need a highly individualized learning experience. Teachers must adapt lesson plans and instructional methods to suit the needs of each student. The curriculum must also remain in full compliance with all state and federal education standards.
Special education teachers may also implement a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP). Similar to an IEP, this is a personalized, written document that guides a student’s behavioral interventions and strategies.
The BIP can identify triggers for problematic behaviors and outline the skills that need to be taught to adapt to positive behaviors. The BIP can also list the positive behavioral reinforcements that teachers may use, including social recognition, verbal praise and other rewards. In this manner, special education teachers help students develop positive behavioral habits that will serve them well in life.
