Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
Teach one or more subjects to students at the middle, intermediate, or junior high school level.
Most important skills
- Learning Strategies
- Instructing
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Philosophy and Theology
- Mathematics
- Psychology
- Computers and Electronics
- History and Archeology
- Public Safety and Security
What the work involves
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
- Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
- Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies.
- Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate these objectives to students.
- Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
- Maintain accurate, complete, and correct student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Artistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (66.9% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (22.1%)
- On-the-job training
- None or short demonstration (34.3%)
- 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 Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical 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 82% of occupations compared | 77% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 72% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 83% of occupations compared | 71% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 72% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 85% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 71% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 79% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 96% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: 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: 22.62%
- Constant contact with others: 77.38%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 18.73%
- Fairly important: 7.93%
- Important: 54.94%
- Very important: 8.82%
- Extremely important: 9.59%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 8.62%
- Very important: 20.87%
- Extremely important: 70.51%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 1.51%
- Very little freedom: 0.62%
- Limited freedom: 10.17%
- Some freedom: 33.27%
- A lot of freedom: 54.42%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 30.06%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.13%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 51.17%
- Every day: 5.65%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 10.51%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 20.1%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 24.92%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 33.27%
- Every day: 11.19%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 1.74%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.74%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 23.48%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.61%
- Every day: 26.44%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 49.51%
- Fairly serious: 26.75%
- Serious: 13.13%
- Very serious: 10.61%
- Extremely serious: 0%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 25-2022.00 · SOC 25-2022 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8