Careers > Special Education Teachers, Preschool

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

$62.24K Median Salary 1.8K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 12.5% Job Growth

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About This Career

Teach academic, social, and life skills to preschool-aged 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.

Reported Job Titles

Early Childhood Special Education Teacher (ECSE Teacher), Early Intervention Teacher, Exceptional Student Education Teacher (ESE Teacher), Handicapped Teacher, Preschool Special Education Teacher, Resource Teacher, Severe/Profound Mental Handicaps Special Education Teacher, Special Education Resource Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Teacher

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Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Oral Expression

Oral Comprehension

Problem Sensitivity

Speech Clarity

Written Comprehension

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Written Expression

Speech Recognition

Information Ordering

Near Vision

Selective Attention

Fluency of Ideas

Category Flexibility

Time Sharing

Knowledge

English Language

Education and Training

Psychology

Public Safety and Security

Therapy and Counseling

Computers and Electronics

Administrative

Customer and Personal Service

Sociology and Anthropology

Skills

Speaking

Active Listening

Critical Thinking

Reading Comprehension

Social Perceptiveness

Learning Strategies

Monitoring

Writing

Active Learning

Instructing

Service Orientation

Judgment and Decision Making

Complex Problem Solving

Coordination

Systems Analysis

Systems Evaluation

Time Management

Persuasion

Technology Skills

Spreadsheet software

Presentation software

Device drivers or system software

Electronic mail software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Computer based training software

Office suite software

Word processing software

Internet browser software

Data base user interface and query software

Tools

Letter or symbol boards for the physically challenged

Adaptive communication switches for the physically challenged

Touch screen monitors

Game pads or joy sticks

Sand or water tables or activity centers

Handicraft tools or materials or equipment for the physically challenged

Page turners for the physically challenged

Mobile medical services first aid kits

Balance or gross motor equipment

Photocopiers

Canes

Laminators

Scanners

Board games

Braille devices for the physically challenged

Positioning devices

Notebook computers

Standers or standing cages or standing aids

Therapeutic pegboards or activity boards

Headpointers or mouthsticks for the physically challenged

Puzzles

Laser printers

Hearing aid

Digital voice recorders

Building blocks

Patient scooters

Walkers or rollators

Keyboards

Digital video disk players or recorders

Overhead projectors

Cutlery or utensils for the physically challenged

Computer mouse

Childrens science kits

Video cassette players or recorders

Wheelchairs

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Abilities

Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).

Knowledge

English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Education and Training: Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Psychology: Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Therapy and Counseling: Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Sociology and Anthropology: Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

Skills

Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Learning Strategies: Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Instructing: Teaching others how to do something.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation: Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

Technology Skills

Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Device drivers or system software: Screen reader software
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Computer based training software: BrainTrain IVA+Plus; Language arts educational software; Math educational software
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software

Tools

Letter or symbol boards for the physically challenged: Communication boards
Adaptive communication switches for the physically challenged: Augmentative communication systems
Touch screen monitors: Interactive whiteboards
Game pads or joy sticks: Joy sticks
Sand or water tables or activity centers: Water tables
Handicraft tools or materials or equipment for the physically challenged: Needle threaders
Page turners for the physically challenged: Page turners
Mobile medical services first aid kits: Emergency first aid kits
Balance or gross motor equipment: Climbing structures
Photocopiers: Photocopying equipment
Canes:
Laminators: Nip rolls
Scanners: Data input scanners
Board games: Educational board games
Braille devices for the physically challenged: Braille writers
Positioning devices: Patient positioning devices
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Standers or standing cages or standing aids: Standing aids
Therapeutic pegboards or activity boards: Pegboards
Headpointers or mouthsticks for the physically challenged: Headpointers; Mouthsticks; Optical pointers
Puzzles: Educational puzzles
Laser printers: Computer laser printers
Hearing aid: Behind-the-ear hearing aids; In-the-ear hearing aids; Mini hearing aids; Programmable hearing aids
Digital voice recorders: Digital audio recorders
Building blocks: Toy block sets
Patient scooters: Scooters
Walkers or rollators: Walkers
Keyboards: Alternative computer keyboards
Digital video disk players or recorders: Digital video disk DVD players
Overhead projectors: Overhead data projectors
Cutlery or utensils for the physically challenged: Adaptive cutlery
Computer mouse: Trackballs
Childrens science kits: Science activity kits
Video cassette players or recorders: Video cassette recorders VCR
Wheelchairs:
Desktop computers:
Personal computers: