Skills
High School Special Education Teacher Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in high school special education teachers, and how to build and show them.
High School Special Education Teachers need technical skills such as transition planning, iep writing, and co-teaching, plus people skills like advocacy and patience. They also use tools such as IEP software and Transition assessments.
Technical (hard) skills
- Transition planning
- IEP writing
- Co-teaching
- Life skills instruction
- Credit tracking
- Adult services knowledge
People (soft) skills
- Advocacy
- Patience
- Collaboration
- Organization
Tools, equipment and technology
- IEP software
- Transition assessments
- Assistive technology
- Job coaching tools
- Student information systems
- Graphic organizers
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how high school special education teachers put their skills to work:
- How to write a transition plan students own
- How to set up a community work experience
- How to prepare a student for the age of majority
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Transition planning” and “IEP writing.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “advocacy,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as State special education license near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our high school special education teacher glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our High School Special Education Teacher training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.