Special Education Teachers, Preschool
Education, Training, and Library · SOC 25-2051
AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.
Decision card
Career Evidence Passport
SOC 25-2051 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.
- SOC exposure
- 0.6%
- Low · Anthropic AEI
- Automation friction
- 60/100
- High friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
- Wages
- $64,830
- H-1B offered wage $64,743; LCAs are filings.
- Projected openings
- 2,100
- BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +1.4%.
- Observed/proxy demand
- 34
- FY2025 certified LCAs; 4,847 postings in 2025.
Skill evidence
- H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
- Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
- Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
- This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.
Best transitions from here
Explore all pathways→Lower AI-exposure roles that reuse your skills, ranked by a transition score (skills that transfer, safety gain, pay and retraining effort).
AI Exposure Analysis
Across AI measures
Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.
AI could do ~20% of this role but only ~0.6% is currently done with AI — a large capability-vs-adoption gap.
Top Skills
H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand
View full H-1B trends →Certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications naming this occupation, FY2016–FY2025. A descriptive high-skill labor-demand signal — employer filings, not visa approvals or individual outcomes. Note: one LCA can cover multiple worker positions.
O*NET occupation profile
What this work involves
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.
Common 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
Representative Tasks
- •Employ special educational strategies or techniques during instruction to improve the development of sensory- and perceptual-motor skills, language, cognition, or memory.
- •Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement.
- •Communicate nonverbally with children to provide them with comfort, encouragement, or positive reinforcement.
- •Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, or social skills, to preschool students with special needs.
- •Develop individual educational plans (IEPs) designed to promote students' educational, physical, or social development.
Detailed Work Activities
- •Develop strategies or programs for students with special needs.
- •Teach life skills.
- •Collaborate with other teaching professionals to develop educational programs.
- •Encourage students.
- •Monitor student performance.
Tools & Technologies
Related Occupations
Employment Projections & AI Exposure
Employment & Wage Trend
BLS OEWS, 2019–2025
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.
Sector Comparison
| Metric | This Career | Sector Average |
|---|---|---|
| AI Exposure | 0.6% | 17.9% |
| Outlook | Bright ↗ | 47% Bright |
| Median Salary | $64,830 | N/A |
| AI Resiliency | 99/100 | N/A |