Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
Teach one or more subjects to students at the secondary school level.
Most important skills
- Instructing
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Learning Strategies
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
Key knowledge
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Computers and Electronics
- Psychology
- Sociology and Anthropology
- History and Archeology
- Communications and Media
What the work involves
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
- Instruct through lectures, discussions, and demonstrations in one or more subjects, such as English, mathematics, or social studies.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate those objectives to students.
- Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate students' progress.
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Assign and grade class work and homework.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Artistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (77% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (50.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (38.3%)
- 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 Secondary 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 83% of occupations compared | 79% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 53% of occupations compared | 27% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 54% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 62% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 87% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 83% of occupations compared | 30% 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 | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 85% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: very 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: 0.75%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 20.14%
- Constant contact with others: 79.11%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 8.42%
- Fairly important: 24.56%
- Important: 18.36%
- Very important: 21.96%
- Extremely important: 26.72%
n = 36, Incumbent 08/2025
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 6.03%
- Important: 16.32%
- Very important: 25.19%
- Extremely important: 52.47%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2025
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 5.98%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 6.84%
- Some freedom: 37.29%
- A lot of freedom: 49.89%
n = 36, Incumbent 08/2025
Time pressure
- Never: 5.98%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.79%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 50.91%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.78%
- Every day: 14.54%
n = 36, Incumbent 08/2025
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 25.83%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 24.81%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 29.7%
- Every day: 19.66%
n = 36, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 25.36%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 33.47%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 16.11%
- Every day: 25.06%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2025
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 30.48%
- Fairly serious: 32.98%
- Serious: 27.15%
- Very serious: 2.7%
- Extremely serious: 6.68%
n = 36, Incumbent 08/2025
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O*NET-SOC 25-2031.00 · SOC 25-2031 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8