Also called: Adult Basic Education Instructors
Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors build instructing, social perceptiveness and judgment and decision making skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education (95%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education | 95% | $63,970 | +4% | None |
| 2 | Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | 95% | $72,040 | +17% | None |
| 3 | Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | 94% | $64,370 | +5% | None |
| 4 | Special Education Teachers, Secondary School | 91% | $74,260 | +21% | None |
| 5 | Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education | 91% | $62,680 | +2% | None |
| 6 | Special Education Teachers, Middle School | 90% | $66,810 | +9% | None |
| 7 | Special Education Teachers, Preschool | 86% | $64,830 | +5% | None |
| 8 | Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School | 85% | $65,030 | +6% | None |
| 9 | English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary | 81% | $78,760 | +28% | Graduate degree |
| 10 | Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School | 81% | $66,270 | +8% | None |
Compared with Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors, median $61,540. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
95% skill match · $63,970 · +4% pay
Coordination · Operations Analysis · Management of Material Resources
95% skill match · $72,040 · +17% pay
Management of Material Resources · Quality Control Analysis · Coordination
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
94% skill match · $64,370 · +5% pay
Management of Material Resources · Management of Financial Resources · Coordination
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education (95% skill match, median $63,970), Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education (95% skill match, median $72,040) and Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education (94% skill match, median $64,370), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 23 pay more than adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors at the median. The biggest increases: Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary (+38%, $85,020), Library Science Teachers, Postsecondary (+31%, $80,340) and Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary (+31%, $80,340).
13 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones. 12 usually need a graduate degree: English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary, Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors and Education Teachers, Postsecondary.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.