How to hire a special education coordinator

How to hire a special education coordinator, step by step

Here's a step-by-step special education coordinator hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a special education coordinator job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new special education coordinator
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a special education coordinator do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a special education coordinator, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a special education coordinator to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a special education coordinator that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of special education coordinator salaries for various roles:

   Type of Special Education Coordinator	Description	Hourly rate
   Special Education Coordinator	Special education teachers work with students who have a wide range of learning, mental, emotional, and physical disabilities. They adapt general education lessons and teach various subjects, such as reading, writing, and math, to students with mild and moderate disabilities... Show more	$22-50
   Resource Teacher	A Resource Teacher is responsible for providing curriculum support systems for students, teachers, and administrators. Another role of a Resource Teacher is to assist the class teacher and provide additional support for children with moderate learning difficulties.	$7-59
   Learning Support Teacher	Learning support teachers focus on offering out-of-school education to pupils who need additional help. Their duties include planning and implementing constructive teaching policies as well as collaborating with parents, other relevant professionals, and personnel... Show more	$11-23

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Professional Development
   • IEPs
   • Rehabilitation
   • K-12
   • Student Performance
   • Mediation
   • Medicaid
   • Public Schools
   • General Education Curriculum
   • Student Achievement
   • Data Collection
   • Due Process
   • Federal Regulations
   • Staff Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage social media profiles through Facebook for important details and dates pertaining to HeartChase.
   • Integrate technology across all content areas, making mathematics come to life!
   • Assess students in reading, writing, and mathematics base on informal measures.
   • Coordinate the scheduling and facilitation of CSE meetings with district staff and relate service providers.
   • Leverage social media on Facebook to promote sponsor events to reach out to young adults.
   • Conduct CSE and CPSE meetings on a regular basis; coordinating services for students with internal and external agencies.

   More special education coordinator duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your special education coordinator job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A special education coordinator can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, special education coordinators' average salary in montana is 52% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level special education coordinators 55% less than senior-level special education coordinators.
   • Certifications. A special education coordinator with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a special education coordinator's salary.

   Average special education coordinator salary

   $70,637yearly

   $33.96 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level special education coordinator salary

   $47,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 13, 2025

   Average special education coordinator salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$111,392	$54
   2	Massachusetts	$91,102	$44
   3	New York	$90,822	$44
   4	New Jersey	$88,415	$43
   5	Pennsylvania	$86,416	$42
   6	Oregon	$80,409	$39
   7	District of Columbia	$78,242	$38
   8	Colorado	$73,937	$36
   9	Illinois	$72,478	$35
   10	Ohio	$70,378	$34
   11	Florida	$66,176	$32
   12	Georgia	$64,503	$31
   13	North Dakota	$64,300	$31
   14	Idaho	$60,612	$29
   15	Texas	$59,989	$29
   16	Arizona	$59,387	$29
   17	Louisiana	$58,712	$28
   18	Kansas	$57,923	$28
   19	Oklahoma	$53,173	$26

   Average special education coordinator salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Boston Public Schools	$94,881	$45.62	27
   2	Colorado State Express	$74,901	$36.01
   3	State of North Dakota	$74,418	$35.78
   4	Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES	$71,270	$34.26	8
   5	St. Coletta Of Greater Washington	$68,388	$32.88	1
   6	AlphaVista Services	$68,074	$32.73	283
   7	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District	$67,311	$32.36
   8	Bright Star Schools	$66,034	$31.75	3
   9	Robbinsdale Area Schools	$65,918	$31.69	30
   10	Lynwood Unified School District	$65,578	$31.53	5
   11	West Philadelphia Achievement Charter Elementary School	$65,363	$31.42	8
   12	Palatine School District 15	$63,649	$30.60	7
   13	Sunrise Christian Academy	$63,626	$30.59
   14	Hemet Unified School District	$62,140	$29.88	10
   15	Georgia State University	$61,828	$29.73	11
   16	Denver Public Schools	$60,152	$28.92	33
   17	University of Idaho	$59,954	$28.82	2
   18	Adams 12 Five Star Schools	$59,563	$28.64	9
   19	Lincoln Child Center	$58,070	$27.92
   20	Rochester City School District	$57,170	$27.49	7

4. Writing a special education coordinator job description

   A special education coordinator job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a special education coordinator job description:

   Special education coordinator job description example

   + + Position Type:
   
   Office Professionals/ Coord Sp Ed
   
   + Date Posted:
   
   7/27/2022
   
   + Location:
   
   Instructional Support Center
   
   Job Code: Coord Sp Ed - 020040 Standard Hours: 40 Department: Sp Ed/Psy Instructional Srvcs - 221200 Empl Class: ARI
   
   Minimum Salary: $74,898.00/Annually
   
   Maximum Salary: $108,657.00/Annually
   
   Scheduled Days: 245
   
   Target Openings: 1
   
   License and Certification Qualifications: Must hold or be eligible for a valid Georgia Educator's Certificate in Educational Leadership and/or Support Personnel License issued by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.
   
   Education Qualifications: Master's degree in related field required.
   
   Experience Qualifications: Five years of successful teaching or other related experience in special education required. Supervisory/leadership experience preferred.
   
   Skills Qualifications: Effective leadership skills; knowledge of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and materials/equipment in program area; knowledge of local, state, and federal rules, regulations, and laws governing special education; effective problem solving/negotiation skills; ability to work successfully with colleagues; excellent oral and written communication skills; and ability to project and generate positive attitudes.
   
   Primary Responsibilities: Provide systemwide leadership for proactively collaborating and supporting families of students who receive special education services..
   
   1. Facilitate and evaluate the delivery of effective and appropriate workshops for parents of students with disabilities.
   
   2. Develop and collaborate with Parent Mentors to develop parent trainings and workshops.
   
   3. Act as the special education department's communication liaison with all internal and external stakeholders.
   
   4. Establish a districtwide parent advocacy group for families of students who receive special education services.
   
   5. Analyze and disseminate student performance data by program and cluster area and make recommendations for increasing student achievement.
   
   6. Provide continuous quality improvement to departmental processes.
   
   7. Complete special projects as needed.
   
   8. Support district special education Staff and local schools.
   
   a. Build the capacity of district special education staff to support schools in effectively building positive partnerships with parents and guardians.
   
   b. Build the capacity of local schools in effectively building positive partnerships with parents and guardians.
   
   c. Lead small groups to effectively develop resources used by local school personnel, families, and the community.
   
   d. Engage in cross-divisional collaboration to help fulfill program goals and activities.
   
   e. Develop small group goals, implement activities that work towards accomplishing goals, and monitor goal progress.
   
   f. Implement activities under the supervision of Director and/or Executive Director.
   
   9. Perform other duties as assigned.
   
   Physical Demands:
   
   While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit for extended periods of time. The employee is also required to talk, hear, stand, and walk. The employee may be required to use hands to finger, handle, feel, and/or reach. The employee is occasionally required to stoop, kneel, or crouch. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find special education coordinators for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any special education coordinators they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level special education coordinators with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   To find special education coordinator candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as k12jobspot, learn4good, serious teachers, teachingjobs.com.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit special education coordinators, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new special education coordinator

   Once you've decided on a perfect special education coordinator candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new special education coordinator first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a special education coordinator?