Education, Training, and Library · Holland code SIC
Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten
Teach academic, social, and life skills to kindergarten 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.
Also called: Deaf Teacher, Hearing Impaired Itinerant Teacher (HI Itinerant Teacher), Special Education Resource Teacher, SPED Teacher (Special Education Teacher), Emotional Disabilities Teacher, K-1 SPED Teacher (Kindergarten through First Grade Special Education Teacher), Kindergarten SPED Teacher (Kindergarten Special Education Teacher), Life Skills Teacher.
O*NET 25-2055.00
At a glance
- 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.
- Instruct students with disabilities in academic subjects, using a variety of techniques, such as phonetics, multisensory learning, or repetition to reinforce learning and meet students' varying needs.
- Prepare objectives, outlines, or other materials for courses of study, following curriculum guidelines or school or state requirements.
- Develop or implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of disabilities.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, or administrative regulations.
- Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement.
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
- Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
- Confer with parents, administrators, testing specialists, social workers, or other professionals to develop individual educational plans (IEPs) for students' educational, physical, or social development.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Speaking4.0 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
- Active Listening3.9 / 5
- Learning Strategies3.9 / 5
- Writing3.6 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.6 / 5
Knowledge areas
- English Language4.7 / 5
- Education and Training4.2 / 5
- Psychology4.0 / 5
- Mathematics3.5 / 5
- Administrative3.3 / 5
- Therapy and Counseling3.0 / 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.
- Realistic26
- Investigative47
- Artistic44
- Social100
- Enterprising12
- Conventional45
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)
- special educational needs coordinator · DE Koordinator für Sonderpädagogik/Koordinatorin für Sonderpädagogik · FR enseignant référent pour la scolarisation des élèves handicapés/enseignante référente pour la scolarisation des élèves handicapés
- special educational needs teacher · DE Sonderpädagoge/Sonderpädagogin · FR enseignant spécialisé/enseignante spécialisée
- early years special educational needs teacher · DE Sonderpädagoge für Frühförderung/Sonderpädagogin für Frühförderung · FR instituteur spécialisé d’école maternelle/institutrice spécialisée d’école maternelle
- special educational needs itinerant teacher · DE mobiler Sonderpädagoge/mobile Sonderpädagogin · FR enseignant spécialisé intervenant à domicile/enseignante spécialisée intervenant à domicile
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Education advisers and school inspectors (2323)39,000 employed
- Special and additional needs education teaching professionals (2316)125,400 employed
- Other educational professionals n.e.c (2329)104,900 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 “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 | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
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.
Related careers
Is it a fit for you?
Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.
Take the career interests test