Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors
Teach or instruct out-of-school youths and adults in basic education, literacy, or English as a Second Language classes, or in classes for earning a high school equivalency credential.
Most important skills
- Instructing
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Learning Strategies
- Writing
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administrative
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics
- Psychology
- Sociology and Anthropology
What the work involves
- Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs, abilities, and interests.
- Observe and evaluate students' work to determine progress and make suggestions for improvement.
- Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
- Instruct students individually and in groups, using various teaching methods, such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws or administrative policies.
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to students.
- Conduct classes, workshops, and demonstrations to teach principles, techniques, or methods in subjects, such as basic English language skills, life skills, and workforce entry skills.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Artistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (40.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (34.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (53%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 59% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 58% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 83% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 60% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 90% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 66% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 81% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 92% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 11.08%
- Contact with others about half the time: 9.43%
- Contact with others most of the time: 20.67%
- Constant contact with others: 58.82%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 9.35%
- Fairly important: 18.04%
- Important: 29.95%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: 16.35%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 9.43%
- Fairly important: 1.65%
- Important: 22.82%
- Very important: 36.89%
- Extremely important: 29.22%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 20.61%
- Some freedom: 34.9%
- A lot of freedom: 44.49%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 24.91%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 44.09%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 16.35%
- Every day: 14.65%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 15.23%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 42.8%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 18.63%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.51%
- Every day: 9.83%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 31.35%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 32.05%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 24.95%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0%
- Every day: 11.65%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 47.84%
- Fairly serious: 16.39%
- Serious: 26.34%
- Very serious: 9.43%
- Extremely serious: 0%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2018
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O*NET-SOC 25-3011.00 · SOC 25-3011 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8