AI exposure: Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education
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.
Reading this score
computedAt 25.0% of weighted task load, Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education sits at the 47th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 61.2% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 28 tasks it averages 1.62 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Organize and supervise games and other recreational activities to promote physical, mental, and..., at 80.0%. The least is Distribute tests and homework assignments and collect them when they are completed, at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within educational instruction and library occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 42.4% across the group's 62 roles, with 58 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 28 tasks, 14 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 14 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 1.62 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.62 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.48 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.80 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.62 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.95 | 0-3 |
Task by task
28 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organize and supervise games and other recreational activities to promote physical, mental, and social development. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.96 | exposed |
| Use computers, audio-visual aids, and other equipment and materials to supplement presentations. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.86 | exposed |
| Prepare lesson materials, bulletin board displays, exhibits, equipment, and demonstrations. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.85 | exposed |
| Plan, prepare, and develop various teaching aids, such as bibliographies, charts, and graphs. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.86 | exposed |
| Take class attendance and maintain attendance records. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.35 | exposed |
| Grade homework and tests, and compute and record results, using answer sheets or electronic marking devices. | 55.4% | 32.1% | 12.5% | 3.87 | exposed |
| Discuss assigned duties with classroom teachers to coordinate instructional efforts. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.21 | exposed |
| Observe students' performance, and record relevant data to assess progress. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.07 | exposed |
| Type, file, and duplicate materials. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.60 | exposed |
| Requisition and stock teaching materials and supplies. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.46 | exposed |
| Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage. | 28.3% | 21.7% | 50.0% | 4.24 | exposed |
| Tutor and assist children individually or in small groups to help them master assignments and to reinforce learning concepts presented by teachers. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.48 | exposed |
| Maintain computers in classrooms and laboratories, and assist students with hardware and software use. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.91 | exposed |
| Collect money from students for school-related projects. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.46 | exposed |
| Operate and maintain audio-visual equipment. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.72 | untouched |
| Present subject matter to students under the direction and guidance of teachers, using lectures, discussions, supervised role-playing methods, or by reading aloud. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 4.19 | untouched |
| Participate in teacher-parent conferences regarding students' progress or problems. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.13 | untouched |
| Teach social skills to students. | 9.2% | 15.8% | 75.0% | 4.25 | untouched |
| Supervise students in classrooms, halls, cafeterias, school yards, and gymnasiums, or on field trips. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.60 | untouched |
| Enforce administration policies and rules governing students. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.30 | untouched |
| Clean classrooms. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.09 | untouched |
| Organize and label materials and display students' work in a manner appropriate for their eye levels and perceptual skills. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.96 | untouched |
| Attend staff meetings and serve on committees, as required. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Conduct demonstrations to teach skills, such as sports, dancing, and handicrafts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.84 | untouched |
| Distribute teaching materials, such as textbooks, workbooks, papers, and pencils, to students. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.74 | untouched |
| Laminate teaching materials to increase their durability under repeated use. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.48 | untouched |
| Assist in bus loading and unloading. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.05 | untouched |
| Distribute tests and homework assignments and collect them when they are completed. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.55 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.