Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education
In short: today's best AI models could do about 8% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 92% of the time, stays with people.
Assist a preschool, elementary, middle, or secondary school teacher with instructional duties. Serve in a position for which a teacher has primary responsibility for the design and implementation of educational programs and services.
$36,780 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
Reviewed on September 30, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on3 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people37 h
Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 3 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 37 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Develop teaching aids (under an hour); Prepare lesson materials and displays (under an hour); Requisition and stock supplies (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 5%
- 3%
- 3%
- 61%
- 29%
Anthropic's data does not cover this job.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 8% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
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, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 8%. Today's estimate: 8%.
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.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.058% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 219th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 2 of its 28 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.11% to 0.052% (released February and March 2025); 0.097% to 0.089% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.051% to 0.058% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.11% | 157 of 708 | 9 of 28 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.052% | 264 of 703 | 6 of 28 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.097% | 157 of 655 | 7 of 28 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.12% | 136 of 672 | 10 of 28 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.089% | 177 of 677 | 11 of 28 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.051% | 225 of 434 | 2 of 28 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.058% | 219 of 447 | 2 of 28 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 47% of this job's working time as physical work. For 23% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 23% in a purpose-built cell. 0.23 of 3, the 417th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 53%
- No robot shown 24%
- In a purpose-built cell 23%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
91% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Supervise students around the school, the in-person work, 18%
- Tutor children alone and in groups, the in-person work, 11%
- Teach social skills, the in-person work, 8%
- Organize and supervise games, the in-person work, 7%
- Demonstrate sports, dance and crafts, the in-person work, 6%
- Clean classrooms, the hands-on work, 5%
What becomes checking the machine
1% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it. Another 7% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Observe students and record progress, costly if wrong, 0.8%
What to learn
- The conversations. About 63% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
- Dealing with people outside the organization. Customers, patients, suppliers or the public: trust with them is built by a person.
- The hands-on craft. About 29% of the time is hands-on work, which no model here does; robots are rated separately on this page.
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 28 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supervise students in classrooms, halls, cafeterias, school yards, and gymnasiums, or on field trips.Being present with children.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 38 min17 min to 2.5 h | In person 60%, hands-on 40% | Stays with people |
| Tutor and assist children individually or in small groups to help them master assignments and to reinforce learning concepts presented by teachers.Teaching children in person.Done several times a day by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 11% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Teach social skills to students.Teaching children in person.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Organize and supervise games and other recreational activities to promote physical, mental, and social development.Leading children's activities in person.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Conduct demonstrations to teach skills, such as sports, dancing, and handicrafts.Showing children how, in person.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 29 min13 min to 50 min | In person 70%, hands-on 30% | Stays with people |
| Clean classrooms.Cleaning by hand.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, AMP Cortex (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage.Showing and watching children in person.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Enforce administration policies and rules governing students.Dealing with children in person.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Distribute teaching materials, such as textbooks, workbooks, papers, and pencils, to students.Passing out books and supplies.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Durst P5 Robotics (Kuka arms); Zund/RobotFactory cobot sheet loading (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Hands-on 70%, in person 30% | Stays with people |
| Present subject matter to students under the direction and guidance of teachers, using lectures, discussions, supervised role-playing methods, or by reading aloud.Teaching a room of children.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Requisition and stock teaching materials and supplies.Stocking by hand, with the requisition.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Amazon Vulcan (Stow/Pick) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Hands-on 60%, systems 40% | 40%Desk part half by now |
| Prepare lesson materials, bulletin board displays, exhibits, equipment, and demonstrations.Making materials, and putting up displays by hand.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Xerox Nuvera MultiFunction Finisher (MFF) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Documents 50%, hands-on 50% | 50%Desk part half by now |
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. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% 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.
- Teaching Assistants, Special Education5% now, 5% by 2028
- Tutors23% now, 23% by 2028
- Special Education Teachers, Secondary School36% now, 36% by 2028
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education35% now, 35% by 2028
- Special Education Teachers, Elementary School40% now, 40% by 2028
- Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors66% now, 66% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 8% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 8% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Develop teaching aids (100% of the task's time now); Prepare lesson materials and displays (50% of the task's time now); and Requisition and stock supplies (40% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Supervise students around the school; Tutor children alone and in groups; and Teach social skills. Together such tasks are about 85% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are the conversations; dealing with people outside the organization; and the hands-on craft. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 91% of the working time stays with people, 1% becomes checking a model's work and 7% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.058% went to this job's tasks, the 219th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 2 of its 28 tasks appeared. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 47% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 23% of the working time. Its index is 0.23 of 3. One example: AMP Cortex for "clean classrooms". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 28 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on September 30, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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