Special Education Teacher Jobs

About The Position

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Education, Special Education, or a related field.
• Active California Education Specialist teaching credential appropriate to the student’s support needs: Mild/Moderate or Extensive Support Needs.
• Minimum of 3 years of relevant teaching experience.
• Experience adapting grade-level curriculum and developing individualized learning plans for students with diverse learning needs.
• Experience assessing the same skill in more than one format.
• Experience partnering closely with parents and collaborating with multidisciplinary support teams.
• Strong communication, organization, and progress-monitoring skills.
• Eligible to work in the United States.
• Must reside in or be willing to relocate to the Thousand Oaks, California area prior to employment.
• Valid California driver’s license and reliable transportation for community-based learning and activities.
• Current background check required; Thrive facilitates the process.
• Verifiable references from prior teaching roles, including at least one direct supervisor or administrator.
• Comfort maintaining strict confidentiality and signing an NDA as a condition of employment.
• Able to work in person within a family’s home and community settings.
• Commitment of at least two years is the family’s goal.

Nice To Haves

• Experience teaching at the middle or high school level.
• Experience supporting middle school students with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
• Experience adapting age-appropriate academic content to a student’s individual access point.
• Structured literacy training.
• AAC or assistive technology experience.
• Master’s in Special Education, or BCBA or RBT certification.
• Comfort teaching through music and experience convening or running small peer groups.
• Experience with experiential, community-based, or interdisciplinary learning.
• Experience in private education, home-based education, or another highly personalized 1:1 learning environment.
• Experience supporting students with intellectual or developmental disabilities is valuable.

Responsibilities

• Take day-to-day ownership of a personalized academic program across core subject areas.
• Adapt grade-level concepts, curriculum, and materials to provide accessible, age-appropriate instruction.
• Design engaging, multisensory learning experiences responsive to the student’s strengths, interests, and learning profile.
• Set visual and physical conditions for learning before instruction, including print size, contrast, line isolation, seating, and planned breaks.
• Identify foundational skills needing additional support while continuing to introduce meaningful new academic content.
• Establish baselines in each subject early in the placement and assess each skill in more than one format before concluding what the student knows.
• Build opportunities to strengthen independence, communication, executive functioning, stamina, and self-regulation into the educational program.
• Convene and run a small peer group one day a week with parent participation, building toward two groups by spring.
• Use community-based and experiential learning to support academic, functional, and social development, including community access and generalization on Friday afternoons.
• Monitor progress and adjust pacing, materials, supports, and instructional strategies in response to the student’s needs.
• Maintain dated work samples, instructional records, and progress documentation supporting the student’s long-term diploma pathway.
• Communicate consistently with the family and collaborate with the student’s support professionals and Thrive’s Educational Manager.
• Work closely with the family and established support team to maintain a coordinated educational approach.
• Maintain confidentiality and demonstrate professionalism, discretion, and adaptability when working in a family’s home.

Benefits

• Dedicated Thrive support throughout the recruitment, interview, and placement process.
• A dedicated Educational Manager who designs the academic program, maintains records, and coaches the educator weekly.
• Learning plan, course sequence, and assessment framework in place before the first teaching week.
• Ongoing collaboration with Thrive’s Educational Management team around curriculum, assessment, progress monitoring, and educational strategy.
• Substitute coverage and a continuity plan when the educator is away.
• Professional development and instructional support as needs evolve.
• Access to Thrive’s broader network of educators, specialists, and educational resources.
• Ongoing partnership to support a strong, sustainable educator-family relationship.
• Protected planning time built into the working day.
• Annual compensation of $75,000 to $110,000, depending on experience and qualifications.