High School Special Education Teacher Career Assessment

2What is a High School Special Education Teacher?

A high school special education teacher carries a caseload and runs a schedule. You co-teach in English, math, science, and social studies so students can earn real credits toward a real diploma. You teach small-group classes for students who need the content taught differently. You teach life skills to students who need them — money, cooking, laundry, bus routes, self-care, safety. You take students out to job sites and coach them there, on the actual floor, in the actual uniform. And you write the transition plan, which is the part of the IEP that names what happens after high school. Under federal law that plan must be in place no later than the first IEP in effect when the student turns sixteen, and it must contain measurable goals for training, education, employment, and where appropriate, independent living, all built on real assessments, plus the services to get there. You also make sure the student and the family know that at eighteen, the age of majority in North Dakota, educational rights transfer to the student.

The Reality: Say this part out loud: there is a cliff at the end of high school and you can see it coming for four years. While a student is in school, services are an entitlement — the school must provide them. After school, nothing is automatic. Adult services have waiting lists and eligibility rules, and some students will not qualify for anything. Your job is to spend those four years building the skills, the paperwork, the connections, and the family’s understanding so the drop is as small as you can make it. You will not always succeed, and you will remember the ones where you did not. That is the honest weight of this particular job, and it is different from the weight in the younger grades.

Your Responsibilities:

• Co-teach in English, math, science, and social studies so students earn real credits
• Teach small-group or separate classes where students need content taught differently
• Teach life skills: money, cooking, laundry, transportation, self-care, and safety
• Take students to real job sites and coach them on the job
• Write and manage every IEP and every transition plan on your caseload
• Run transition assessments and build measurable goals for work, training, and living
• Connect students and families with adult services long before graduation
• Track credits and diploma requirements so nobody runs out of time in the spring of senior year

You are the last teacher who gets to set a student up before the entitlement ends.

3A Day in the Life

7:30 AM — In early. Check credits for three seniors, find out one is short a half credit, and start solving it today instead of in April.

8:00 AM — Co-teach tenth grade English. You chunk the essay, sit with four students, and keep the standard where it is.

9:00 AM — Life skills class. Today: reading a pay stub and what the deductions mean. Real stubs, real numbers.

10:00 AM — Drive two students to a job site. Coach one on greeting a supervisor, then step back so he can do it himself.

11:30 AM — Back to the building. Lunch at your desk while you write a transition plan due Thursday.

12:30 PM — Small-group algebra. Same standard, different route in, and a calculator that is written into the plan.

1:30 PM — Transition IEP meeting for a junior. The student runs part of it. You have the family, the classroom teacher, and an adult services contact at the table.

3:15 PM — Buses go. Paperwork, job-site logs, and a call to a supervisor about how the placement is going.

Half your day is teaching and half of it is engineering the landing, and both of them come home with you.

4Training in North Dakota

A four-year degree, a North Dakota teaching license, and a special education endorsement. You need a bachelor’s degree from an approved teacher preparation program and a North Dakota license from the Education Standards and Practices Board, usually called ESPB, plus a special education endorsement. The Strategist endorsement is the usual one; ESPB’s form says it covers early childhood, elementary, middle, or secondary, and that secondary educators must complete additional coursework in elementary reading and math methods — which tells you something true about the job, because you will be teaching basic reading and math to teenagers.

Training Pathways:

• Straight through a four-year degree (4 years): Major in special education, or double major in special education and a secondary content area. Minot State, Mayville State, and the University of Mary all offer a special education bachelor’s. Mayville State says its fully online B.S.Ed. can be doubled with Secondary Education, which is the natural pairing at this age band.
• Start as a paraeducator and finish the degree while you work (this is the realistic entry point): Districts hire special education paraprofessionals without a degree, and DPI issues the Special Education Paraprofessional Certificate of Completion after twenty contact hours of inservice training within one calendar year of employment. Job coaches and life skills paraeducators at the high school level get a very honest look at this job. Minot State’s Paraprofessional-to-Teacher pathway is an online Special Education B.S.Ed. built so you keep the job while you finish.
• Already teaching, or already hold a bachelor’s: A licensed secondary teacher can add special education through the Strategist endorsement, and ESPB’s Plan on File can put you in the room now while you finish the coursework. With a bachelor’s in anything, Minot State’s online MAT in Special Education is 38 to 39 credits and leads to initial licensure, UND’s online M.Ed. is 30-plus credits with ten specializations, and ESPB’s Alternate Access License needs a bachelor’s plus 30 credits of special education coursework.

Where to Train in North Dakota:

• Minot State University (Minot) — Special Education, B.S.Ed., major, minor, or concentration, 120 credits, about four years, for grades PreK through 12, with an on-campus track and an online Paraprofessional-to-Teacher pathway that lets a working paraprofessional keep the job while finishing the degree — minotstateu.edu/enroll/programs/special-education.shtml
• Mayville State University (Mayville) — Special Education, B.S.Ed., completely online, multicategorical, available as a double major with Secondary Education, with a fast-track option of 8-week and 16-week courses that Mayville State says lets some students finish in as little as 2.5 years — mayvillestate.edu/msu-online/programs/bsed-special-education
• University of Mary (Bismarck) — Special Education, B.S., major or minor on campus, plus a Bachelor of Science in Special Education through University of Mary Online. The University of Mary says the program is fully accredited by the North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board and meets all CAEP national standards, and that students meet the standards of the Council for Exceptional Children — umary.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/special-education
• Valley City State University (Valley City) — Strategist Special Education Endorsement, 37 credits across 13 courses, including SPED 380 Collaboration, Consultation, and Transition Planning — the course that is most directly about this job — plus assessment, behavior modification, methods for LD, ED, and ID, and a 5-credit Special Education Student Teaching. An education degree is required first — catalog.vcsu.edu/undergraduate-catalog/programs/endorsements/strategists-pecial-education
• University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) — M.Ed. in Special Education, 30-plus credits, 100% online and asynchronous, with ten specializations: Applied Behavior Analysis, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Behavior Intervention Specialist, Early Childhood Special Education, Emotional Behavioral Disorders, General Special Education, Intellectual Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, Special Education Specialist, and Visual Impairment. UND states it is an approved teacher certification program for North Dakota that transfers to most states — und.edu/programs/special-education-med
• University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) — undergraduate Special Education Certificate, 12 credits, 100% online, one to two semesters, high school diploma to apply; UND is clear it is not a teaching license on its own — und.edu/programs/special-education-undergraduate-certificate
• Minot State University (Minot) — Master of Arts in Teaching, Special Education, 38 to 39 credits, fully online, ESPB and CAEP approved, leading to initial licensure, with concentrations in General Special Education, Early Childhood Special Education, and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education — minotstateu.edu/graduate/future_students/programs/teaching-special-education.shtml
• Minot State University (Minot) — Master of Science in Special Education, online, with a Special Education Strategist emphasis (33 to 35 credits), a Deaf/Hard of Hearing emphasis (38 to 40 credits), a Behavior Specialist concentration (12 credits), and a Special Education Leadership concentration (34 to 36 credits), over a 19 to 21 credit core — catalog.minotstateu.edu/graduate/programs-of-study/ms-special-education
• Mayville State University (Mayville) — Graduate Certificate in Special Education, 15 credits, online and asynchronous in 8-week sessions, covering special education basics, intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbances, learning disabilities, and special education law and ethics. Mayville State says it can be applied toward an endorsement and toward its M.Ed. — mayvillestate.edu/msu-online/programs/graduate-certificate-special-education
• University of Mary Online (Bismarck) — M.Ed. in Special Education, M.Ed. in Special Education Strategist, and M.Ed. in Special Education Leadership — online.umary.edu/academics
• Turtle Mountain College (Belcourt) — Elementary Education, B.S., and a Master of Education; add the special education endorsement afterward — tm.edu/academics
• United Tribes Technical College (Bismarck) — Elementary Education, A.S. and B.S. — ted.uttc.edu/degrees
• North Dakota DPI Educator Pathway Program — the paraprofessional coursework route: Valley City State EDUC 250 plus EDUC 240 (or EDUC 251, EDUC 252, and EDUC 240), Minot State SPED 110 plus SPED 299, or Mayville State SPED 289 plus SPED 289A — nd.gov/dpi/educators/credentials-and-certificates/paraprofessional-certificates

Before You Start: A high school diploma or GED to start the degree. Strong writing, because a transition plan and an IEP are legal documents. A valid driver’s license matters more in this job than in the others, because you will drive students to job sites and community settings. You need to be comfortable teaching basic reading and math to teenagers — ESPB requires secondary strategist candidates to take elementary reading and math methods for exactly that reason. Teacher preparation programs have a GPA gate partway through; UND asks for at least 2.75. A fingerprint background check is required before licensure or placement.

Tip: Start with financial aid and scholarships. Fill out the FAFSA, ask the school’s financial aid office what you qualify for, and ask an employer whether they help pay for school. That is where the money starts. After that, a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota may be able to help with what is left over, like tuition, books, a laptop, or exam fees. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you enroll rather than after. Worth asking about specifically: two-year degrees that train you for a job, like civil engineering technology, land surveying, mechatronics, electronics, or instrumentation. North Dakota two-year colleges also cost far less than a university. Ask about paid summer internships too — engineering firms, plants, and survey crews hire students while they are still in school.

5Certification & Licensing

North Dakota licenses you personally, through the Education Standards and Practices Board. ESPB issues the teaching license and the special education endorsements: Specific Learning Disabilities (LD), Emotional Disabilities (ED), Intellectual Disabilities (ID), the Strategist endorsement combining all three, and separate areas in hearing impairment, visual impairment, early childhood special education, and gifted and talented. A high school caseload almost always needs the Strategist.

How You Get and Keep the Credential in North Dakota:

• Initial In-State License (two years) — issued to first-time applicants who have met all ND requirements: a bachelor’s degree from an approved teacher education program, the required Praxis tests, and a background check (nd.gov/espb)
• First Five-Year License — granted after 18 months full-time equivalent of successful teaching in North Dakota, then renewed every five years (nd.gov/espb)
• Strategist Special Education Endorsement — ESPB’s form calls for 30 semester hours of transcripted core coursework, primarily at the graduate level, plus enrollment in two more strategist courses, and three separate practicum or internship experiences: one in specific learning disabilities, one in intellectual disabilities, and one in emotional disturbance. It covers early childhood, elementary, middle, or secondary, and secondary educators must complete additional coursework in elementary reading and math methods. It must be finished within three years of being assigned to teach strategist special education, with transcripts reviewed yearly (nd.gov/espb, SFN-58901)
• Single-area endorsements ($80 each) — LD, ED, or ID alone, added through your ND Teach account (nd.gov/espb)
• Six options to special education licensure — ESPB publishes a sheet with six roads: (1) pass a special education Praxis test, then apply for the Major Equivalency Endorsement; (2) a Plan on File; (3) teach special education with a special education minor; (4) the American Board route — any bachelor’s degree, three tests in Elementary and Special Education, then the American Board License, giving licensure in both; (5) an Alternate Access License with a bachelor’s plus 30 credits of special education coursework; (6) a Special Education Minor Equivalency Endorsement, which cannot be a Plan on File (nd.gov/espb, "Six Options for Special Education Licensure")
• Plan on File — apply online with the $80 endorsement fee, transcripts showing at least 3 semester hours of special education coursework, proof of enrollment in two more special education courses that semester, and a letter from your administrator requesting the plan and naming your special education mentor. One year at a time, up to three years total (nd.gov/espb)
• Special Education Paraprofessional Certificate of Completion (ND DPI) — twenty contact hours of inservice training conducted within one calendar year of the employment where you take on the duties, applied for through NDTeach. The Special Education Technician certificate requires that you already hold the certificate of completion for special education (nd.gov/dpi, Administrative Rule 67-11-23)
• Initial Interim Substitute License (two years) — 48 semester hours of college coursework minimum (nd.gov/espb)
• Special Education Director Credential (ND DPI) — the top of this ladder: a valid ND professional license, a master’s in special education or a related field (DPI says a master’s in gifted and talented will not be accepted), basic preparation in one special education area, an additional nine semester hours in more than one other area, eight semester hours in school administration or a four-semester-hour internship in administration of special education plus two semester hours in school administration, at least two years of successful professional education employment in one special education area, and written recommendations from two supervisors (nd.gov/dpi)

The Exams: North Dakota requires all three Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators tests: Reading (5713, qualifying score 156, minimum 149), Writing (5723, qualifying score 160, minimum 153), and Math (5733, qualifying score 150, minimum 143), or a composite of 466 with no single score below that test’s minimum. You also take a subject test, and ESPB’s first special education licensure option is built on passing a special education Praxis test and then applying for the Major Equivalency Endorsement. ESPB does not publish the subject test codes and cut scores on its testing page, so confirm the exact special education test and score with ESPB before you register (nd.gov/espb/licensure/testing-information).

Cost: From the ESPB fee list: initial application $30, fingerprinting $44.50, Initial In-State two-year license $85, two-year renewal $65, five-year license $140, endorsements $80 each, Alternate Access License $165, Interim Substitute License $95, transcript review $175, and a $100 late fee if a license lapses. A $5 maintenance charge is added to new applications.

Keeping It Current: ESPB renews the five-year license with at least 30 days under contract and six semester hours of continuing education. A Plan on File renews yearly, up to three years total, with new transcripts and a new administrator letter each time. Graduate credits move you up the district pay scale at the same time they cover renewal.

6Salary & Job Outlook

North Dakota High School Special Education Teacher Pay (May 2025) — yearly contract pay:

• Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $47,280–$51,950 a year
• Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $61,210 a year
• Experienced (top 25–10%): $72,360–$80,320 a year

What that means: Teachers are paid on a yearly contract, not by the hour, so the numbers above are yearly pay. Your district’s salary schedule is what tells you exactly what each step and each year of experience pays. The middle North Dakota high school special education teacher earns about $61,210 a year — the highest middle of the four special education jobs in this group — against a national middle of $74,260. The ND bottom tenth is about $47,280 and the national bottom tenth is about $49,800, so starting pay is close. The ceiling is where North Dakota loses badly: the ND top tenth is about $80,320 while the national top tenth is about $109,100, a gap of nearly $29,000. Pay rises with years taught and with graduate credits, and ND district salary schedules are public, so look up the districts you would actually live in before you apply.

Jobs in North Dakota: About 420 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 450 (about 6% growth). Expect about 30 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 2% decline.

Outlook: Good, and again the opposite of the national picture. O*NET shows North Dakota going from about 420 high school special education teachers in 2024 to about 450 in 2034, roughly 6% growth, with about 30 openings a year. Nationally the job is shrinking about 2%. Thirty openings a year is second only to elementary among the four special education jobs here. ESPB declared all content areas critical shortage teaching positions at its March 12, 2026 meeting for the 2026-2027 school year, and special education is among the hardest of all to fill, so a licensed graduate willing to look outside the biggest cities can usually find a job.

Who Hires in ND: Public school districts, multi-district special education units, tribal and Bureau of Indian Education schools, career and technical education centers that serve several districts, and some private schools. In many small North Dakota towns high school sits inside a K-12 building, so one teacher may cover a wide grade range — ask about that in the interview.

Work Setting: A classroom, other teachers’ classrooms, a life skills room with a kitchen and a washer and dryer, a school van, and real workplaces around town. You are out of the building more than any other special education teacher. School calendar with extended school year services in summer for students who need them, and services can continue to age twenty-one, so your students are not all teenagers.

Physical Demands: Moderate, with real variation. Co-teaching and paperwork days are mostly standing and sitting. Job-site days mean driving, walking, and doing whatever the job involves alongside the student. Students who need physical help with transfers or personal care need it at this age too, and they are adult-sized. Students in crisis are also adult-sized, so ask what safety training the district provides and who actually comes when you call.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 25-2054); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.

7Where This Leads

Path 1: High School Special Education Teacher — Run a caseload through to graduation.

Path 2: Transition Coordinator — Specialize in life after high school across a whole district.

Path 3: Work-Based Learning or Job Coach Coordinator — Build and run the employer partnerships.

Path 4: Behavior Specialist or Autism Specialist — Add coursework and support a district.

Path 5: Career and Technical Education Special Populations Coordinator — Make CTE programs work for students with disabilities.

Path 6: Special Education Director — Add a master’s and the DPI director credential and run the program.

8The Real Talk

What's Great:

• You are the last teacher who can change what happens after school, and you have four years to do it
• The ND middle pay of about $61,210 is the highest of the four special education jobs here
• You get out of the building — job sites, community settings, real work
• You teach things with obvious point: money, a bus route, a job interview, a pay stub
• About 30 openings a year in ND, second only to elementary special education
• Students come back years later and tell you the job stuck

What's Hard:

• The cliff at graduation is real, and you will not save everyone from it
• Transition paperwork sits on top of the ordinary IEP paperwork, with the same legal deadlines
• Credit tracking is unforgiving — a missed half credit in tenth grade shows up in May of senior year
• Students in crisis at this age are adult-sized, and you need real safety training
• ND pay tops out about $29,000 below the national top
• Adult services have waiting lists and eligibility rules you do not control

Be Honest: Can you hold a four-year plan in your head for twenty different students at once and still teach a good lesson on a Tuesday? Can you drive a student to a job site, coach him, and then step back and let him fail a little so he learns? Can you tell a family the truth about what will and will not be waiting after graduation, kindly and early enough to matter? And can you carry the ones it did not work out for without letting it turn you hard?

9Part 1: What Attracts You?

10Part 2: Are You Ready?

11Part 3: Your Next Move

Your High School Special Education Teacher Assessment Results