Special education is customized teaching designed to help students with disabilities learn and succeed in school. When a student has trouble seeing, hearing, moving, focusing, reading, or learning in other ways, special education provides the extra support they need.

Special education might mean a student gets more time to finish tests, uses special technology like text-to-speech software, works with a teacher trained in a specific learning method, or spends part of their day in a smaller classroom. The goal is to give every student what they personally need to learn effectively. One student might need large-print books because of vision problems, while another might need a quiet room for tests because noisy environments make it hard to concentrate.

In the United States, federal law requires public schools to provide special education services to students who need them, creating an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that spells out exactly what help each student will receive. This helps ensure that students with disabilities get a fair chance to learn, even when they face challenges other students don't.

The term can also refer to the field itself: teachers who specialize in special education learn specific techniques for helping students with different disabilities reach their potential.