Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth.
478,780 people do this job in the US. $38,140 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 14%
- 7%
- 79%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 12%. Today's estimate: 13%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 34 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 10% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | 95%Half by now | |
| Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 50 min25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guests, or other experiential activities and guide students in learning from those activities.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 5% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 33 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Arrange indoor and outdoor space to facilitate creative play, motor-skill activities, and safety.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 33 min17 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Organize and label materials and display students' work in a manner appropriate for their ages and perceptual skills.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education8% now, 12% by 2028
- Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten19% now, 23% by 2028
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education29% now, 35% by 2028
- Special Education Teachers, Preschool15% now, 26% by 2028
- Special Education Teachers, Secondary School22% now, 31% by 2028
- Special Education Teachers, Elementary School27% now, 36% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).