Education, Training, and Library · Holland code SCR
Adapted Physical Education Specialists
Provide individualized physical education instruction or services to children, youth, or adults with exceptional physical needs due to gross motor developmental delays or other impairments.
Also called: Adapted Physical Educator, APE Consultant (Adapted Physical Education Consultant), APE Teacher (Adapted Physical Education Teacher), PE Teacher (Physical Education Teacher), Adapted Aquatics Instructor, Adapted Physical Activity Specialist, APE Instructional Specialist (Adapted Physical Education Instructional Specialist), Certified Adapted Physical Educator.
O*NET 25-2059.01
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $76,580
- Middle half earn $60,930 to $99,690. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Provide adapted physical education services to students with intellectual disabilities, autism, traumatic brain injury, orthopedic impairments, or other disabling condition.
- Provide students positive feedback to encourage them and help them develop an appreciation for physical education.
- Provide individual or small groups of students with adapted physical education instruction that meets desired physical needs or goals.
- Instruct students, using adapted physical education techniques, to improve physical fitness, gross motor skills, perceptual motor skills, or sports and game achievement.
- Write reports to summarize student performance, social growth, or physical development.
- Evaluate the motor needs of individual students to determine their need for adapted physical education services.
- Establish and maintain standards of behavior to create safe, orderly, and effective environments for learning.
- Collaborate with other educational personnel to provide inclusive activities or programs for children with disabilities.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening4.0 / 5
- Speaking4.0 / 5
- Learning Strategies4.0 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
- Writing3.9 / 5
- Active Learning3.9 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Education and Training4.8 / 5
- Psychology4.0 / 5
- English Language3.5 / 5
- Administrative3.4 / 5
- Law and Government3.4 / 5
- Public Safety and Security3.1 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic52
- Investigative44
- Artistic24
- Social100
- Enterprising15
- Conventional53
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- physical education vocational teacher · DE Ausbilder für Sportinstruktoren/Ausbilderin für Sportinstruktoren · FR enseignant d’éducation physique/enseignante d’éducation physique
- secondary school teacher · DE Lehrkraft Sekundarstufe · FR chargé/chargée d'enseignement général du second degré
- physical education teacher secondary school · DE Lehrkraft für Sport Sekundarstufe · FR professeur d’éducation physique et sportive/professeure d’éducation physique et sportive
- special educational needs teacher secondary school · DE Sonderpädagoge Sekundarstufe/Sonderpädagogin Sekundarstufe · FR professeur spécialisé de l’enseignement général/professeure spécialisée de l’enseignement général
- sports coach · DE Sportlehrer/Sportlehrerin · FR coach sportif
- sports instructor · DE Sporttrainer/Sporttrainerin · FR instructeur sportif/instructrice sportive
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Secondary education teaching professionals (2313)504,100 employed
- Sports coaches, instructors and officials (3432)124,900 employed
- Fitness and wellbeing instructors (3433)62,400 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.66. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (25-2059).
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