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Education and Training | Director of Special Education

Director of Special Education

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Director of Special Education is responsible for the planning, development, coordination, and management of all special education programs, services, budgets and personnel. Ensures compliance with state and federal regulations governing the delivery of services to students with disabilities.

Job Outlook

There were 6 Director of Special Education job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 1237 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Elementary and Secondary School Administrator industry, which includes the Director of Special Education career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Director of Special Education jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $107,413.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $107,413.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Director of Special Education postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $94,672.

Education and Experience

Posted Director of Special Education jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree19.08%
Master's Degree61.44%
Doctoral Degree8.49%
Other4.77%

Posted Director of Special Education jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years13.46%
3 to 5 years76.06%
6 to 8 years6.52%
9+ years3.97%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Director of Special Education positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Leadership (56.91%)
  • Teaching (48.18%)
  • Communication (45.76%)
  • Management (31.04%)
  • Planning (29.91%)
  • Coordinating (24.09%)
  • Operations (18.43%)
  • Research (17.87%)
  • Writing (17.3%)
  • Interpersonal Communications (16.65%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Special Education (98.18%)
  • Individualized Education Programs (IEP) (48.72%)
  • Student Services (21.42%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Office Equipment (7.61%)
  • Educational Administration (7.69%)
  • Special Education Law (16.13%)
  • Conflict Resolution (6.37%)
  • Disabilities (14.31%)
  • Performance Appraisal (6.45%)
  • Social Work (6.37%)
  • Curriculum Development (9.59%)
  • Mediation (10.01%)
  • Data Analysis (7.94%)
  • Instructing (3.14%)
  • Psychology (13.4%)
  • School Psychology (9.26%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

  • Special Education Administration (4.8%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

  • Special Education Administration (4.89%)
  • Special Education (100%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Director of Special Education skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • National Education Director
  • Executive Director of Special Education
  • Special Education Supervisor
  • Special Education Coordinator
  • Director of Student Services
  • Director of Special Services
  • Coordinator of Special Education
  • Campus Director
  • Director of School Partnerships

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Director of Special Education jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • Catapult Learning (27)
  • Spectrum Center (17)
  • Prodeo Academy (14)
  • Boston Public Schools (12)
  • Michigan Association Of School Boards (12)
  • Sesi Schools (11)
  • State Of West Virginia (11)
  • Oakland Unified School District (9)
  • Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Boces (9)
  • Summit Academy Management (8)

North Carolina

  • Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (5)
  • Wake County Public Schools (1)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.