You provide remedial reading instruction — typically working with students who are reading below grade level — building decoding, fluency, and comprehension skills, and supporting students toward grade-level access.
Remedial Reading Teacher pay typically runs $58K–$85K at this level, and jobs in this field are projected to shrink 2% through 2034.
Most days tend to involve a blend of small-group instruction, individual student work, and consultation with classroom teachers — running structured reading lessons, supporting students through specific skill gaps, and partnering with classroom teachers on instructional strategy. You'll often spend part of the time on assessment and progress monitoring that intervention work requires.
The harder part is often the slow arc of reading development combined with the emotional content of working with students who often have years of reading struggle behind them. You'll typically balance skill building with rebuilding student confidence, where careful pacing matters.
People who tend to thrive here are deeply rooted in reading instruction, patient with development curves, and skilled at the relational side of intervention work. The trade-off is the chronic resource pressure of intervention programs and the cumulative emotional load of working with students who've often experienced reading failure. If you find satisfaction in watching a struggling reader become fluent, the work can carry quiet, lasting meaning.
It's your career.
Take the wheel.
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Don't know if you want to stay in your job?
Get your career on record. Then decide.
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 provide remedial reading instruction — typically working with students who are reading below grade level — building decoding, fluency, and comprehension skills, and supporting students toward grade-level access.
Median pay for a Remedial Reading Teacher is about $67K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $48K to $106K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Learning Strategies, Instructing, Social Perceptiveness, Instructing, and Speaking.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 1.75% through 2034, with roughly 258,110 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Learning Disabled Teacher (LD Teacher), Resource Center Teacher, and RSP Specialist (Resource Specialist Program Specialist).
Do one small thing to grow in your career this week. Pick one of these; each comes with the words to use.
More career advice
We believe careers grow through small steps taken often, more than big leaps. So we’ve collected hundreds of them for you to try.
Browse career adviceYour job belongs to your employer.
Your career belongs to you.