What is a Special Education Instructor?

Unlike regular teachers, special education instructors go through specialized education and training to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Through special instruction, these modern-day heroes help students reach their potential both outside and inside the classroom despite their disability. And because students with disabilities have varying levels of needs, special education instructors spend most of their time designing Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) for each student and then implementing them in the most effective ways possible.

Special education instructors also work closely with parents and other school officials to provide each child with the best quality of education. On top of that, they may also be responsible for providing remedial classes for students who need extra help with certain topics.

To become a special education instructor, you would need to have a bachelor's or master's degree in special education. You would also need to complete a teaching internship in a special education classroom, pass state-required tests for special education teachers, and obtain a teaching license. If you have the skill, passion, and patience to teach special education students, you can expect to earn about $23.77 an hour or roughly $49,434 a year.

What Does a Special Education Instructor Do

There are certain skills that many special education instructors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, patience and resourcefulness.

Learn more about what a Special Education Instructor does

How To Become a Special Education Instructor

If you're interested in becoming a special education instructor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 63.8% of special education instructors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 21.9% of special education instructors have master's degrees. Even though most special education instructors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

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Top Special Education Instructor Jobs Near You

Special Education Instructor Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a special education instructor can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as special education teacher, progress to a title such as lead teacher and then eventually end up with the title education director.

Special Education Instructor

Average Salary for a Special Education Instructor

Special Education Instructors in America make an average salary of $34,380 per year or $17 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $54,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $21,000 per year.
Average Special Education Instructor Salary
$34,380 Yearly
$16.53 hourly
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Roles and Types of Special Education Instructor

There are several types of special education instructor, including:

Instructor

Role:

Instructors are knowledgable about a topic and work to pass that knowledge off to their students. Whether you work in a gym or a school, instructors are super important to the students' success.

There are lots of possibilities for you as an instructor. You could work at a health club or a gym or you could work for a school and instruct math. There are so many different instructors out there, basically any topic you can think of probably needs an instructor.

Your hours will vary depending on what industry you decide to go with. You may find some jobs require you to work nights and weekends, like if you were to become a fitness instructor, while school instructors only work during school hours. Your schedule really depends on what you're passionate and knowledgable about and when people want to learn it.

  • Average Salary: $53,426
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Special Education Teacher

Role:

Special education teachers offer academic and personal support for students with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities to help them overcome difficulties in their learning.

They facilitate lessons by working around or with the students' particular learning obstacles and preparing classes and learning activities. Sometimes working with students in the same classroom as a general education class, the top priority of a special education teacher is ensuring equal opportunities and respecting the dignity of the youngsters they assist.

The average annual salary of a special education teacher is $53,220. However, with significant experience on the job and a graduate degree in your pocket as well, your yearly income might reach as high as $98,000.

  • Average Salary: $54,290
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Education Paraprofessional

Role:

An Education Paraprofessional is basically a teacher's assistant in a school. They are tasked with making tools and maintaining order, generally, in the classroom. They tend to the student's needs and may even teach, under the supervision of a licensed teacher, that is.

Earning an average hourly wage of $14.00, which amounts to about $30,000 a year, they work hand-in-hand with the licensed teachers to care for, instill knowledge, and basically train the students in a conducive and adequate environment.

Education Paraprofessionals need some skills that critical thinking, communication, and resourcefulness are at the forefront. They may also be called into play when a health emergency arises, as they are trained quite efficiently to perform CPR and First Aid. They mostly major in Psychology with Elementary Education following closely, and a Bachelor's Degree is the degree of choice if you want to venture into the field. A master's degree is also very well appreciated, but it is not so common.

  • Average Salary: $31,158
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Special Education Instructor Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active special education instructor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where special education instructors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Special Education Instructor Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California4,273$51,575
2Texas2,532$41,293
3Florida2,113$36,226
4Illinois2,081$40,900
5New York1,992$43,879
6Pennsylvania1,984$45,638
7Ohio1,612$37,978
8Michigan1,561$40,095
9New Jersey1,549$42,648
10North Carolina1,413$34,052
11Arizona1,385$32,556
12Georgia1,301$36,359
13Colorado1,290$44,196
14Virginia1,290$32,739
15Maryland1,084$41,685
16Massachusetts1,019$49,228
17Minnesota982$36,760
18Missouri970$38,030
19Washington947$47,082
20Kentucky829$35,294
21Indiana804$30,615
22South Carolina779$32,420
23Oregon764$46,113
24Nevada758$37,866
25Tennessee722$35,456
26Wisconsin719$33,493
27Connecticut690$43,949
28Oklahoma533$31,350
29Iowa479$44,012
30Nebraska471$38,098
31Utah463$32,882
32Kansas439$35,148
33Louisiana411$33,168
34Alabama387$34,958
35New Hampshire363$36,943
36New Mexico360$34,437
37Arkansas317$32,200
38Mississippi277$31,287
39Montana266$31,320
40Idaho265$35,458
41Delaware261$37,336
42Maine215$34,398
43Rhode Island169$41,367
44Vermont168$39,665
45West Virginia163$34,509
46Alaska158$67,804
47Wyoming154$45,359
48South Dakota140$33,911
49Hawaii136$48,289
50North Dakota130$42,837

Special Education Instructor Education

Special Education Instructor Majors

Special Education
23.1 %
Education
14.0 %
Psychology
11.1 %

Special Education Instructor Degrees

Bachelors

63.8 %

Masters

21.9 %

Associate

8.1 %

Top Colleges for Special Education Instructors

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

4. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

5. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

6. University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,184

Enrollment

30,845

7. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

8. Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$52,930

Enrollment

5,030

9. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,094

Enrollment

32,974

10. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

Top Skills For a Special Education Instructor

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 13.9% of special education instructors listed autism on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and patience are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Special Education Instructor Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Special Education Instructor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Special Education Instructor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Special Education Instructor diversity

Special Education Instructor Gender Distribution

Female
Female
63%
Male
Male
37%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among special education instructors, 63.2% of them are women, while 36.8% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among special education instructors is White, which makes up 70.9% of all special education instructors.

  • The most common foreign language among special education instructors is Spanish at 59.5%.

Online Courses For Special Education Instructor That You May Like

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Best States For a Special Education Instructor

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a special education instructor. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, California, Massachusetts, and Hawaii. Special education instructors make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $67,804. Whereas in California and Massachusetts, they would average $51,575 and $49,228, respectively. While special education instructors would only make an average of $48,289 in Hawaii, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Alaska

Total Special Education Instructor Jobs: 158
Highest 10% Earn:
$90,000
Location Quotient:
1.22

$67,804

Avg. Salary

View 158 Special Education Instructor Jobs In AK

2. Wyoming

Total Special Education Instructor Jobs: 154
Highest 10% Earn:
$63,000
Location Quotient:
1.66

$45,359

Avg. Salary

View 154 Special Education Instructor Jobs In WY

3. Oregon

Total Special Education Instructor Jobs: 764
Highest 10% Earn:
$67,000
Location Quotient:
1.19

$46,113

Avg. Salary

View 764 Special Education Instructor Jobs In OR
Full List Of Best States For Special Education Instructors

How Do Special Education Instructors Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Special Education Instructor Employers

Most Common Employers For Special Education Instructor

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Baltimore City Public Schools$70,989$34.134
2Prince George's Community College$60,700$29.185
3Atlanta Public Schools$57,762$27.778
4Detroit Public Schools Community District$56,232$27.036
5Los Angeles Unified School District$55,882$26.874
6Chicago Public Schools$55,378$26.625
7State of Colorado$55,128$26.509
8Iowa Department of Transportation$53,032$25.507
9University of North Carolina$47,319$22.754
10Cobb County School District$46,881$22.545
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Special Education Instructor Videos

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Updated April 6, 2023