Understanding Special Education Teacher Facts and Statistics

Schools employ more special education teachers than ever. This article explores the landscape of special education, addressing the shortage of teachers, the growing demand for their services, and the multifaceted factors that contribute to the current state of affairs. It also highlights the essential skills, responsibilities, and career pathways for special education teachers.

The Shortage of Special Education Teachers

Is there a shortage of special education teachers in America’s public schools? Yes, there is a shortage of special education teachers. About 46,000 special education teachers leave public schools every year, while teacher preparation programs are training fewer than 30,000 new ones to replace them. Over time, the number of people working in special education roles has risen rapidly, but the demand for them has risen even faster. Demand-side growth can account for about two-thirds of the gap between school districts’ annual hiring needs and the number of new special education teachers being produced.

Bellwether Education Partners looked at which school subjects states reported as staff shortage areas from 1998-2018, it found that most states reported an insufficient number of special education teachers in most of those years. Over this 21-year period, only four states identified special education as a shortage less than half the time. Nine states-Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, Texas, and Wisconsin-reported a special education staffing shortage every year for 20 years straight. This teacher shortage negatively affects students. To solve these problems, policymakers will need to grapple with the complex realities of the special-education labor market.

Growing Demand for Special Education Services

The percentage of public school students who receive special education services has risen over time, reaching 15 percent in 2022-23. That increase has been propelled by a number of factors, including better and earlier identification of students who need additional support. National data don’t tell us much about the specific services that students with disabilities receive, other than the fact that students are now more likely to be included in general classes in regular schools.

Disability advocates have long pushed for more “inclusive” education settings by arguing that they are better for students and that many general education teachers can accommodate students with special needs, perhaps with the assistance of a paraprofessional or instructional aide. Over the last decade, the percentage of students receiving IDEA services who spend 80 percent or more of their school day in general classes has risen from 61 percent to 67 percent. Schools employ more special education teachers than ever before. That is true whether these educators are counted in absolute numbers, relative to the overall student population, or relative to the number of students identified for special education services.

Read also: Find Remote Special Education Jobs

If public-school special-education teaching positions had merely grown at the same rate as students identified for special education services in those schools, schools would employ 146,000 fewer teachers in those roles. It’s also worth noting that the percentage of students receiving special education services varies greatly by state, as do judgments about what constitutes sufficient staffing. For example, Maine, New York, and Pennsylvania identify more than 20 percent of their students for special education services, while schools in Hawaii, Idaho, and Texas identify less than 12 percent of their students. In terms of staffing, for every 100 children served under IDEA, Oklahoma schools employ the equivalent of 18 full-time special education teachers. At the other extreme, Indiana employs just one full-time special education teacher per 100 students served.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ state-level Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data show that special-education teaching-staff levels held up relatively well. Including public and private schools, the BLS data show the number of special education teachers dipped slightly in 2020 and 2021 but rebounded in 2022 and was 9 percent higher than 2019 levels by 2023. Broadly speaking, the trends in special education have been an exaggerated version of those for the larger education labor market.

Challenges Faced by Special Education Teachers

The work of special education teachers is hard. These teachers report higher workloads than others, especially early in their careers. As a result, some state-level analyses have found that, compared to general education teachers, special education teachers are more likely both to move to other schools and to leave teaching. At the national level, a 2021-22 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) survey found that, compared to general-education public-school teachers, special education teachers were about 0.5 percentage points more likely to leave the profession entirely and 1 percentage point more likely to change schools.

In 2020-21, public schools employed 541,000 special education teachers across elementary and secondary schools. Among those teachers, 8.5 percent left teaching and another 9.2 percent changed schools the following year. Omitting from the count those who remained special education teachers but moved from one school to another, that still left a gap of about 46,000 special education jobs that needed filling. Those spots wouldn’t all have to be filled by teachers fresh out of a preparation program. One of the biggest sources of new hires is re-entrants-people who leave teaching for personal or other reasons and then decide to return. Nationally, depending on the year, 20 to 30 percent of new hires in public schools are re-entrants. If those percentages apply to special education hiring as well, that still leaves a large demand for newly licensed special education teachers. And over the last decade, teacher preparation programs have produced only 25,000 to 30,000 new special education teachers per year.

The preceding numbers probably undercount the national problem because they don’t account for any growth in special education positions, they ignore the private school sector’s demand for new special educators, and they include general education teachers who decide to retrain and earn a special education license. Worse, this comparison assumes that all newly licensed special education teachers accept a position as a special education teacher. The overall supply of teacher-preparation completers is down from where it was a decade ago. However, the supply of new special education teachers did not fall as far, and it has rebounded more strongly than the supply of new teachers in subject areas such as mathematics and English as a second language.

Over time, a higher and higher share of new teachers are being trained in faster and cheaper alternative-route preparation programs. That’s true for all teachers: the share of newly prepared teachers coming from traditional programs fell from 86 percent in 2013 to 75 percent in 2020. It seems logical that better-trained teacher candidates would become better teachers. However, the empirical evidence supporting that theory is mixed. For example, a 2013 study by Li Feng and Tim R. Sass found that teachers of special education courses were more effective at teaching reading if they had pre-service training in special education. In contrast, Allison F. It’s also not clear what role a pre-service preparation program can or does play in shaping teacher effectiveness without considering the school setting where the teacher begins working. For example, Roddy Theobald and colleagues looked at the interaction between reading programs used by special-education preparation programs and the districts that the candidates eventually worked in. Looking across all new teachers, the researchers did not find any statistically significant differences in effectiveness based on the preparation programs teachers attended. However, they did find that teachers who were trained to use research-based practices in the “science of reading” were particularly effective when they taught in districts that also emphasized that approach.

Regardless of which moment in time one considers, the special education labor market has been one of the worst, if not the worst, shortage area across the country. The problem intensifies when the supply numbers go down, as they did over the last decade, and when demand goes up, as it did thanks to the one-time federal relief funds after Covid-19. So how do schools fill their open special education positions? In some cases they don’t--at least not before the school year starts. Dan Goldhaber and a team of researchers at the University of Washington Center for Education Data & Research and the American Institutes of Research have found that there are proportionally more job openings in special education, that they take longer to get filled, and that the gap between special education and general elementary positions only grows as the school year goes on.

And without adequate supply to meet their demands, schools often turn to unlicensed or emergency-credentialed teachers. The federal IDEA law requires states to establish minimum qualifications for teachers of children with disabilities, including at least a bachelor’s degree, and does not permit special education teachers to work under temporary, emergency, or provisional permits. And yet the federal Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services found that only 92 percent of special education teachers and 93 percent of special education paraprofessionals were fully certified as of the fall of 2020. These numbers point to a troubling pattern. Schools have many special education job openings. Without a sufficient talent pool, they end up hiring a cadre of young, emergency-licensed teachers-federal law notwithstanding. Those teachers are in turn more likely to leave, which leads to more job openings.

Addressing the Supply-Demand Mismatch

The supply-demand mismatch in special education can’t be solved by focusing on the supply side alone. That’s because, even in states with a robust supply of special education teachers, those candidates do not all wind up working in special education roles. In Washington state, for example, Theobald and colleagues analyzed the data and concluded that “thousands of teachers in the state each year were deemed eligible by the state . . . In other words, closing the gap will require district officials to acknowledge the added challenges of being a special educator. Currently, only about one in seven districts offer financial incentives to recruit or retain teachers in any hard-to-staff jobs, which means that, in many districts, special education teachers earn nearly identical compensation as other teachers. Even among large urban districts, which are more likely than other districts to offer stipends and other salary differentials, the National Council on Teacher Quality found that less than half (43 percent) offered a financial incentive for special educators.

One state that has tried a more-aggressive financial-stipend policy is Hawaii. Faced with vacancy rates that were much higher in special education than for all other positions, the state offered a $10,000 stipend for those willing to work in special education roles, plus another $8,000 for any teacher who worked in a hard-to-staff school. A beginning special education teacher in Hawaii who decided to work in a hard-to-staff school would have seen their pay rise to $67,100 from $49,100. Local leaders may want to consider other radical solutions to special education shortages.

Core Responsibilities of a Special Education Teacher

Acknowledging the full spectrum of issues at play in the special education labor market offers a nuanced story, not a simplistic tale of teachers shunning careers as special educators. The core responsibility of special education teachers is to educate students who face learning, physical, emotional, or mental disabilities. Some special education teachers specialize in a particular area. The majority of special education teachers work in public and private schools.

Special education teachers foster academic achievements and build skills that benefit students throughout their lives. While some duties will depend on a position’s unique context, core responsibilities for special education teachers are to:

Assess Students’ Abilities and Needs

As they determine their students’ unique abilities and needs, special education teachers develop IEPs, or Individualized Education Programs. Students’ IEPs outline their goals, including academic or behavioral milestones, and services they are to receive, such as speech therapy. Parents, other educators, administrators and health specialists turn to IEPs to maintain a record of students’ progress. An IEP isn’t just helpful-it’s required by law. Department of Education stipulates that students with learning disabilities are entitled to IEPs that “meet the child’s unique needs and that prepare the child for further education, employment and independent living.” Because it is a legal agreement, an IEP must meet specific criteria provided by the IDEA. Special education teachers need comprehensive training to create and maintain IEPs that meet these standards.

Collaborate with Teachers and Professionals

Special education teachers work with school administrators, speech therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and more to ensure that students receive the specific instruction they need to succeed. This collaboration happens via IEPs, where all parties have access to updates and changes. As examples, a teacher’s classroom notes can help a student’s behavior specialist address their individual circumstances, and documenting their differentiated instruction can help other teachers do the same.

Advocate for Their Students’ Accommodations

Special education teachers advocate for students with disabilities, ensuring that they receive appropriate accommodations, services and resources to succeed in school. Accommodations can include changes in the classroom environment, extending the time to take tests and learning from other types of media besides print text. Special education teachers should be prepared to make accommodations, note them in IEPs and keep track of developing needs. Teachers and administrators can reference the IEP and continue appropriate accommodations throughout grade levels and across schools.

Encourage Forward-Thinking Skills

Special education teachers provide support to help students build social skills in addition to academic achievements. These skills include communication, problem solving, regulation and more, all of which “contribute to their overall success and well-being” even after schooling is finished. Many special education teachers prepare their students to succeed in life after school by creating transition plans. A transition plan as an individualized resource tailored to a student’s goals and skills, ultimately “empowering them to pursue their goals confidently.” Transition plans can focus on living independently, navigating employment, continuing education, seeking community support and more.

Essential Skills for Special Education Teachers

While the previously mentioned qualities are essential to your success as a special education teacher, there are additional qualifications and skills that can boost your potential for landing a special education teaching job.

Top Skills for Teachers:

Teaching: Breaking down complex concepts, adapting instructional strategies, and providing individualized support is crucial.
Communications: Developing effective communication methods enables you to convey instructions, provide feedback, and address concerns that ensure everyone is on the same page in supporting student growth.
Writing: Special education teachers are responsible for additional written materials, such as individualized education plans (IEPs), progress reports, and other documentation to track student development.
Planning: Special education teachers have additional planning responsibilities that focus on the short- and long-term goals of students with various learning challenges.
Management: Implementing consistent rules, routines, and behavior management strategies, you can support students in achieving their full potential and minimize disruptions.
Mathematics: Having a solid foundation in mathematical concepts and problem-solving strategies can actually aid in designing the most beneficial instruction techniques.
Interpersonal communications: Having strong interpersonal communication skills can greatly improve the ability to advocate for student needs.
Research: Thorough research skills are beneficial when educators encounter unfamiliar situations.
Leadership: Leadership skills are important for empowering teachers to advocate for students, influence positive change, and collaborate well within teams.
Problem-solving: Special education teachers have to be flexible and creative when facing a variety of challenges.

Top Skills for Special Education Teachers:

Special education: Special education training equips teachers with the skills to evaluate learning disabilities and provide a safe, equitable learning environment.
Individualized education programs (IEP): Gaining a better understanding of how to develop and implement IEPs allows you to effectively assess students' strengths and needs, and ensure they closely align with the IEP objectives.
Lesson planning: For special education teachers, lesson planning involves selecting appropriate resources, setting benchmarks, incorporating accommodations, and designing objective-driven activities.
Disabilities: A comprehensive understanding of disabilities is necessary to accommodate the unique challenges faced by students with learning differences.
Classroom management: Special education teachers must establish clear expectations and boundaries while offering positive reinforcement.
Autism spectrum disorders: Teachers must be prepared to manage challenging behaviors and adapt instructional techniques to communicate better with these students.
Curriculum development: Special education teachers often play a role in curriculum development, ensuring that it’s accessible and adaptable for students with disabilities.
Working with children: Patience, empathy, and the ability to build rapport are essential in establishing positive relationships with your students and recognizing their individual strengths and interests.
Behavior management: Special education teachers have to be skilled at recognizing the underlying factors behind challenging behaviors.
Instructional strategies: Classroom teachers draw from a broad toolkit of instructional strategies, which they can tailor to different students based on cognitive and physical disabilities or behavioral challenges.

Technology Skills Teachers Need:

Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word): Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs improves organization, communication, and instructional delivery.
Zoom (video conferencing tool): Zoom and other video conferencing tools have become essential for remote learning and collaboration.
Student information systems: Familiarity with SIS ensures efficient data management, improved student assessments, and increased evidence-based decision-making.
Learning management systems: LMS tools help special education teachers create online learning materials, track student participation, enhance accessibility, and promote independent learning.
Spreadsheets: Spreadsheets continue to be go-to tools for organizing and analyzing data, which helps teachers gain valuable insights into student performance.
Google classroom: By leveraging the platform’s many features, teachers can facilitate real-time collaboration, distribute assignments and resources, monitor student progress, and provide timely feedback.

Career Paths and Opportunities

Becoming a special education teacher involves satisfying certain requirements. Earning an undergraduate degree in special education, education, or a related field such as child development helps aspiring special education teachers establish a strong educational foundation. The programs for these types of bachelor’s degrees give students the opportunity to learn about educational psychology and to develop classroom management skills. Individuals typically need to gain experience before they can become licensed and start teaching students. Teachers of all kinds typically need to obtain a state teaching license to teach in a school. To become a special education teacher, individuals need to supplement their teaching license with a special education endorsement. Earning a graduate degree can help special education teachers expand their expertise and boost their credentials. Aspiring special education teachers should examine graduate degree program options closely to find one that will prepare them for the role in special education they want to pursue.

The significant shortage of special education teachers translates into bright employment prospects for educators in the field. Working as a special education teacher can be a rewarding career that enables educators to make a significant difference in the lives of the students they teach. Most special education teachers work in public schools, teaching students from preschool to high school. Special education teachers in public schools are required to have a bachelor’s degree and a state-issued certification or license. The median annual wage for special education teachers was $64,270 in May 2024. All of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire. Special education teachers held about 559,500 jobs in 2024. A small number of special education teachers work with students in residential facilities, hospitals, and the students’ homes. They may travel to these locations. Some teachers work with infants and toddlers at the child’s home.

Experienced teachers may advance to become mentors who help less experienced teachers improve their instructional skills. Teachers may become school counselors, instructional coordinators, and elementary, middle, and high school principals. These positions generally require additional education, an advanced degree, or certification.

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