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.

O*NET reports this occupation under titles such as: ED SPED Teacher (Emotional Disabilities Special Education Teacher); Interrelated SPED Teacher (Interrelated Special Education Teacher); Learning Disabilities Teacher (LD Teacher); Learning Support Teacher; Middle School Resource Teacher; MS SPED Teacher (Middle School Special Education Teacher); Self-Contained SPED Teacher (Self-Contained Special Education Teacher); SLD Teacher (Specific Learning Disability Teacher); SPED Resource Teacher (Special Education Resource Teacher); SPED Teacher (Special Education Teacher)

Tasks

• 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.
• Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification and positive reinforcement.
• Modify the general education curriculum for students with disabilities, based upon a variety of instructional techniques and instructional technology.
• Employ special educational strategies and techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, and memory.
• Confer with parents or guardians, other teachers, counselors, and administrators to resolve students' behavioral and academic problems.
• Coordinate placement of students with special needs into mainstream classes.
• Confer with parents, administrators, testing specialists, social workers, and professionals to develop individual educational plans (IEPs) for students' educational, physical, and social development.
• Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate those objectives to students.
• Maintain accurate and complete student records, and prepare reports on children and activities, as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
• Teach students personal development skills, such as goal setting, independence, and self-advocacy.
• Guide and counsel students with adjustments, academic problems, or special academic interests.

Knowledge

• English Language
• Education and Training
• Mathematics
• Administrative
• Customer and Personal Service
• Psychology
• Public Safety and Security
• Sociology and Anthropology
• Law and Government

Skills

• Learning Strategies
• Reading Comprehension
• Active Listening
• Writing
• Speaking
• Critical Thinking
• Active Learning
• Monitoring

Abilities

• Oral Comprehension
• Written Comprehension
• Oral Expression
• Written Expression
• Problem Sensitivity
• Deductive Reasoning
• Inductive Reasoning
• Speech Clarity
• Information Ordering
• Speech Recognition
• Near Vision
• Originality
• Far Vision
• Fluency of Ideas
• Category Flexibility
• Memorization
• Speed of Closure
• Flexibility of Closure
• Selective Attention