You teach students with special needs at the high school level. As a High School Learning Support Teacher, you're modifying instruction, providing accommodations, and helping students with disabilities access the curriculum.
High school learning support teachers work with students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and other conditions that affect academic performance—providing direct instruction, IEP implementation, accommodation management, and collaboration with general education teachers on inclusive practices.
The IEP compliance dimension is substantial at the secondary level. With multiple content teachers, complex schedules, and transition planning requirements, managing the legal and educational requirements of each student's IEP requires significant organizational skill. Documentation and case management often feel like they compete with direct instruction time.
People who tend to do well are organized and genuinely invested in helping students with learning differences succeed in a system that wasn't always designed for them. If you find the puzzle of adapting curriculum and instruction to specific learning profiles interesting—and can build productive relationships with content teachers to support inclusion—high school learning support teaching tends to be both technically demanding and deeply meaningful. Transition planning for students entering adulthood is a particularly impactful dimension of the role.
Still figuring out what you want to become
when you grow up?
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
It's your career.
Take the wheel.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
You teach students with special needs at the high school level. As a High School Learning Support Teacher, you're modifying instruction, providing accommodations, and helping students with disabilities access the curriculum.
Median pay for a High School Learning Support Teacher is about $70K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $48K to $106K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Instructing, Learning Strategies, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, and Service Orientation.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 1.6% through 2034, with roughly 162,780 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include School Director, Resource Teacher, and High School Teacher.
Turn your career record
into a springboard for growth.