Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
Teach academic and social skills to students at the elementary school level.
Most important skills
- Learning Strategies
- Instructing
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
- Reading Comprehension
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Mathematics
- Customer and Personal Service
- Psychology
- Therapy and Counseling
- Computers and Electronics
- Public Safety and Security
What the work involves
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among the students.
- Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
- 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 teaching methods such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to students.
- Assign and grade class work and homework.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Artistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (78.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (32.8%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (26.7%)
- 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 Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education 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 | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 92% of occupations compared | 89% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 91% of occupations compared | 67% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 99% of occupations compared | 97% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 64% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 58% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 96% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 94% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 95% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- 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: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 11.2%
- Constant contact with others: 88.8%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 3.44%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 3.44%
- Very important: 26.38%
- Extremely important: 66.73%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 2.72%
- Extremely important: 97.28%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 9.73%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 9.72%
- Some freedom: 42.55%
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9.78%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 25.86%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 43.44%
- Every day: 20.93%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 15.86%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.47%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 30.09%
- Every day: 45.58%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 11.18%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.76%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 31.01%
- Every day: 42.06%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 40.08%
- Fairly serious: 39.77%
- Serious: 17.1%
- Very serious: 0%
- Extremely serious: 3.06%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 25-2021.00 · SOC 25-2021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8