Special Education Teacher (Other Settings) Career Assessment

2What is a Special Education Teacher (Other Settings)?

The people counted in this box teach students with disabilities, but not in a plain kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade classroom. Some are adapted physical education specialists — the one job O*NET names under this code. They teach gym, movement, and fitness to students whose bodies work differently, changing the game so the student can actually play it. Some teach in hospitals and treatment centers, so a child keeps learning while getting care. Some are homebound or home-hospital teachers who drive to a house and teach one student at a kitchen table. Some work in state schools for deaf or blind students, or in juvenile or corrections education. Some are itinerant teachers who serve several districts, which happens a lot in North Dakota because small districts share staff. Some teach adults with disabilities in a program that is not a public school. Whatever the setting, the core of the work is the same as any special education job: find out exactly what this student can do now, write a plan, teach it, measure it, and change it when it is not working.

The Reality: Here is the honest part. Because this is a catch-all, you cannot search for "special education teacher, all other" and find a job ad. Nobody posts that title. You will search for "adapted physical education," "homebound teacher," "teacher of the deaf," "hospital school teacher," or the name of a specific program. The pay range on this page is wide for the same reason — it is several jobs averaged together, and North Dakota only counts a small number of workers in it, so one or two people moving in or out swings the whole number. Treat everything below as a rough signal, not a fact you can plan a mortgage around.

Your Responsibilities:

• Find out what a student can do right now, using testing and plain observation
• Write and update the student’s Individualized Education Program, called an IEP
• Teach the goals in the plan and keep data showing whether they are working
• Change the activity, the equipment, or the room so the student can take part
• Travel between buildings, districts, homes, or hospital rooms
• Work with therapists, nurses, family, and the student’s regular teachers
• Explain the plan to families in words that are honest and easy to follow
• Keep the legal paperwork correct and on time

You teach students whose learning does not fit the room it was supposed to happen in, so you change the room.

3A Day in the Life

7:30 AM — This is a travel day. You load equipment into your car: weighted balls, a bell ball, resistance bands, and a clipboard.

8:15 AM — First school. Adapted gym with four students. You run the same unit the other classes are running, changed so everyone in your group can play it.

9:30 AM — Write the morning’s data in the parking lot before you forget it. This is what the plan gets judged on.

10:00 AM — Second school, 22 miles away. One student, one goal: walking the length of the gym without the walker.

11:30 AM — Lunch in the car again. You eat while you answer two parent emails.

12:30 PM — A hospital visit, or a home visit, depending on your assignment. One student, one hour, one subject, at a kitchen table.

2:00 PM — An IEP meeting by video, because you cannot be in three towns at once.

3:30 PM — Back to your home base. File the paperwork, plan tomorrow, and fill out mileage.

Many of these jobs are spent alone in a car between buildings. That suits some people perfectly and makes other people miserable.

4Training in North Dakota

Almost every job in this box needs a four-year degree and a North Dakota teaching license. With very few exceptions, these are licensed teaching jobs. You need a bachelor’s degree from an approved teacher preparation program and a license from the Education Standards and Practices Board, called ESPB. Then you add the piece that matches the setting: a special education endorsement, or a physical education degree plus adapted coursework, or a hearing or vision specialty. The roads in are the same roads the four grade-band pages describe, so anything you learn there counts here too.

Training Pathways:

• Special education degree, then a specialty (4 years, then more): Major in special education and get licensed, then add the endorsement that matches the setting you want. Minot State University is the state’s main special education program and offers the Special Education B.S.Ed. as a major, a minor, or a concentration. Mayville State offers a fully online Special Education B.S.Ed.
• Physical education degree, then adapted coursework (4 years, then more): This is the road to adapted physical education, the one job O*NET names under this code. You get a physical education teaching degree and license first, then add adapted physical education coursework. No North Dakota school advertises a full adapted physical education major, so call the education department at the school you are considering and ask exactly which courses they have and what they count toward before you enroll.
• Start as a paraeducator and finish the degree while you work: Schools hire special education paraprofessionals without a degree. North Dakota DPI issues a Special Education Paraprofessional Certificate of Completion, which takes twenty contact hours of inservice training within one calendar year of the job. Minot State then runs a Paraprofessional-to-Teacher pathway, an online version of the Special Education B.S.Ed. built so you can keep the paraprofessional job while you finish. This is the cheapest honest way to find out whether you belong in this work at all.

Where to Train in North Dakota:

• Minot State University (Minot) — Special Education, B.S.Ed., offered as a major, a minor, and a concentration, 120 credits, about four years, preparing teachers for grades PreK through 12. Minot State offers an on-campus track and a Paraprofessional-to-Teacher pathway that is online and built so a working paraprofessional can keep the job while finishing — minotstateu.edu/enroll/programs/special-education.shtml
• Minot State University (Minot) — Master of Arts in Teaching, Special Education, 38 to 39 credits, fully online, approved by ESPB and CAEP, leading to initial licensure, with three concentrations: General Special Education, Early Childhood Special Education, and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education. The Deaf and Hard of Hearing concentration is the one that leads toward a state school or itinerant hearing job — minotstateu.edu/graduate/future_students/programs/teaching-special-education.shtml
• Minot State University (Minot) — Master of Science in Special Education, online, with emphasis areas in Early Childhood Special Education, Specific Learning Disabilities, Special Education Strategist, and Deaf/Hard of Hearing Education, plus online graduate certificates in the same areas, described by the department as built for the working professional — minotstateu.edu/sped/graduate-programs.shtml
• Mayville State University (Mayville) — Special Education, B.S.Ed., completely online, preparing teachers for a multicategorical population, 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 North Dakota (Grand Forks) — M.Ed. in Special Education, 30-plus credits, 100% online and asynchronous, with ten specializations. UND states the program is an approved teacher certification program for North Dakota that is transferable 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, and only a high school diploma is needed to apply. UND is clear that this is not a teaching license by itself — und.edu/programs/special-education-undergraduate-certificate
• University of Mary (Bismarck) — Special Education, B.S., available as a major or a minor, and on the graduate side an M.Ed. in Special Education, an M.Ed. in Special Education Strategist, and an M.Ed. in Special Education Leadership. The University of Mary says the undergraduate program is fully accredited by ESPB and meets CAEP national standards — umary.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/special-education and online.umary.edu/academics
• North Dakota DPI Educator Pathway Program — the paraprofessional coursework route, with named course pairs at three schools: Valley City State EDUC 250 plus EDUC 240 (or EDUC 251, EDUC 252, and EDUC 240), Minot State SPED 110 plus SPED 299, and Mayville State SPED 289 plus SPED 289A — nd.gov/dpi/educators/credentials-and-certificates/paraprofessional-certificates
• A warning about adapted physical education specifically: this is the one job O*NET names under this code, and no North Dakota college advertises an adapted physical education degree or endorsement. What exists here is a physical education teaching degree plus whatever adapted coursework a school can offer you, sometimes from out of state and online. Do not assume it is available. Call the education department, ask for the exact course list, and get the answer in writing before you pay tuition.

Before You Start: A high school diploma or GED to start the degree. Teacher preparation programs have a GPA gate partway through; UND asks for at least 2.75. A fingerprint background check is required before you can be licensed or placed with students. For most of these settings you also need a driver’s license and a car you trust, because the job moves. For the paraprofessional route you can start with a high school diploma and the twenty hours of inservice training.

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

ESPB licenses you, and the setting decides what you add on top. There is no North Dakota license called "special education, all other." You get a regular ND teaching license from ESPB and then add the endorsement that matches where you want to work. The endorsement areas ESPB names are Specific Learning Disabilities, Emotional Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities, the Strategist endorsement that combines those three, and separate areas in hearing impairment, visual impairment, early childhood special education, and gifted and talented.

What You Actually Need in North Dakota:

• Initial In-State License (two years) — ESPB issues this to first-time applicants who have met all the 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 you teach successfully for 18 months full-time equivalent in North Dakota, then renewed every five years (nd.gov/espb)
• A special education endorsement ($80) — added through your ND Teach account. Which one depends on the students you will serve (nd.gov/espb)
• Hearing impairment or visual impairment endorsement — the two ESPB areas that lead toward state school and itinerant specialist work. These are rare in North Dakota and districts fight over the people who hold them (nd.gov/espb)
• Six options to special education licensure — ESPB publishes a sheet with six roads in: pass a special education Praxis test and apply for the Major Equivalency Endorsement; a Plan on File; teach special education with a special education minor; the American Board route; an Alternate Access License with a bachelor’s plus 30 credits of special education coursework; or a Special Education Minor Equivalency Endorsement (nd.gov/espb, "Six Options for Special Education Licensure")
• Plan on File — the route many districts use to put an already-licensed teacher into a special education job right now. You apply online with the $80 endorsement fee, transcripts showing at least 3 semester hours of special education coursework, proof you are enrolled in two more special education courses this semester, and a letter from your administrator requesting the plan and naming your mentor. It lasts one year and renews up to three years total (nd.gov/espb)
• Special Education Paraprofessional Certificate of Completion (ND DPI) — the door for someone without a degree: twenty contact hours of inservice training conducted within one calendar year of the employment, applied for through NDTeach (nd.gov/dpi, Administrative Rule 67-11-23)
• For adapted physical education, a physical education license first — this job is a physical education teaching license with adapted training added. ESPB does not publish a separate adapted physical education endorsement, so ask ESPB directly what they will accept for the position you are looking at before you build a plan around it
• Initial Interim Substitute License (two years) — ESPB issues this with a minimum of 48 semester hours of college coursework. Substituting is the cheapest honest way to sit in these rooms before you commit four years (nd.gov/espb)

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). ESPB also accepts a composite of 466 as long as no single score falls below that test’s minimum. You also take a subject test for your licensure area. ESPB does not publish the subject test codes and cut scores on its testing page, and for an unusual setting like this one the right subject test is not obvious, so confirm it with ESPB before you register and pay (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. The degree is the real cost, not the fees.

Keeping It Current: ESPB renews the five-year license when you have at least 30 days under contract and six semester hours of continuing education. A Plan on File renews yearly, up to three years, and only if you keep showing coursework progress and your administrator asks again in writing. Districts pay more for graduate credits and a master’s degree, so summer classes cover your renewal and move you up the pay scale at the same time.

6Salary & Job Outlook

North Dakota Special Education Teachers, All Other (May 2025) — yearly contract pay, mixed catch-all group:

• Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $50,830–$58,080 a year
• Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $61,500 a year
• Experienced (top 25–10%): $67,980–$80,180 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. Second, and more important, this whole row is a mixture. North Dakota counts only a small number of workers in this box, and they hold several different jobs, so a change of one or two people moves the median. With that said, the middle worker in North Dakota earns about $61,500 a year, the bottom tenth about $50,830, and the top tenth about $80,180. That middle is right in line with the four real special education grade bands, which sit between about $57,680 and $61,210. So the honest summary is: it pays about what special education pays, which makes sense, because it is special education. Where North Dakota falls behind is the top. The national top tenth in this group is about $120,080 against North Dakota’s $80,180, because the specialty jobs that pay very well are mostly in big-city districts in other states. Before you plan around any of this, go read the four grade-band pages: elementary special education has about 670 workers in North Dakota and is a far steadier number than anything here.

Jobs in North Dakota: About 80 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 90 (about 6% growth). Expect about 10 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 1% growth — slower than average.

Outlook: Small, and you should read it carefully. O*NET shows North Dakota going from about 80 workers in this whole catch-all group in 2024 to about 90 in 2034, roughly 6% growth, with about 10 openings a year across every job inside the box. Ten openings a year, split among adapted physical education, hospital teaching, homebound teaching, state school work, and corrections education, means you may wait a long time for the exact job you want in the town you want. Nationally the group grows about 1%, slower than average. If you want special education work in North Dakota and you want to be able to find a job, the four grade-band pages are the ones with real numbers: elementary special education has about 50 openings a year, high school special education about 30, and middle school about 20. Go in through one of those doors, get licensed and working, and add the specialty later. What is in your favor either way is that 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.

Who Hires in ND: Public school districts and the multi-district special education units that small North Dakota districts share, the ND School for the Deaf and the ND Vision Services / School for the Blind, hospitals and residential treatment centers, juvenile and adult corrections education programs, tribal schools, and agencies that serve adults with disabilities.

Work Setting: It depends entirely on which job inside the box you land in, and that is the honest answer. Adapted physical education is gyms, pools, and playgrounds across several buildings. Homebound teaching is other people’s living rooms. Hospital teaching is a bedside or a small room down the hall from a nurses’ station. State school work is a campus. Corrections education is behind a locked door with a controlled schedule. What most of them share is windshield time: North Dakota is big and the students are spread out, so a lot of these jobs pay you to drive.

Physical Demands: Varies by job, and can be high. Adapted physical education is the most physical teaching job there is — you are moving, spotting, lifting, and transferring students all day, often supporting a student’s full weight. Homebound and hospital teaching are gentler on the body but hard on the schedule. Almost all of these jobs involve driving in North Dakota winter, which is its own kind of risk, so ask about mileage, a school vehicle, and what happens on a bad-roads day.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 25-2059); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.

7Where This Leads

Path 1: Adapted Physical Education Specialist — Teach movement and fitness to students whose bodies work differently.

Path 2: Homebound or Hospital Teacher — Keep a student learning while they cannot come to school.

Path 3: Teacher of the Deaf or of the Blind — Add a hearing or vision endorsement; these are rare and wanted.

Path 4: Itinerant Special Education Teacher — Serve several small districts from one home base.

Path 5: Corrections or Juvenile Education Teacher — Teach in a secure setting with a fixed schedule.

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

8The Real Talk

What's Great:

• You get students nobody else knows how to reach, and you figure them out
• Small caseloads compared to a regular classroom
• A lot of independence — often you plan your own week
• The specialty endorsements are rare, so holding one makes you hard to replace
• Pay tracks the regular special education scale, around $61,500 in the middle
• Special education is among the hardest jobs North Dakota schools have to fill

What's Hard:

• This is a catch-all, so the job numbers on this page are shakier than on any other page in this series
• Only about 10 openings a year in the whole state across every job in the box
• You cannot search for the job title — you have to know the real name of the role you want
• A lot of driving, in North Dakota weather, often alone
• Some settings are emotionally heavy: hospitals, treatment centers, locked facilities
• Paperwork and legal deadlines follow you even when your classroom is a car

Be Honest: Can you work alone for long stretches, without a staff room and without other adults checking on you? Can you drive a lot, in winter, and still arrive ready to teach? Can you walk into a setting that is not a school — a hospital room, a living room, a locked unit — and be steady there? And can you accept that this is a narrow door, and be willing to get licensed through a regular special education job first and wait for the specialty to open up?

9Part 1: What Attracts You?

10Part 2: Are You Ready?

11Part 3: Your Next Move

Your Special Education Teacher (Other Settings) Assessment Results