The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 25-2011.00 · Job Zone 3

AI exposure: Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth.

Reading this score

computed

At 24.0% of weighted task load, Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education sits at the 45th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 60.7% 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 context. Across this occupation's 34 tasks it averages 1.94 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.

The most exposed thing this job does is Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those..., at 86.7%. The least is Perform administrative duties, at 0.0%. A gap of 86.7% 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 59 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 34 tasks, 10 are currently banded exposed, 4 assisted and 20 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take systems being given deeper access to the organisation's own records and history, which is already happening. 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

judged

Every 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.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability1.560-4
Embodiment1.340-3
Presence1.890-3
Accountability1.020-3
Context1.940-3
Verification cost1.200-3

Task by task

34 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to children.86.7%13.3%0.0%4.32exposed
Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips.80.0%20.0%0.0%4.45exposed
Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.80.0%20.0%0.0%4.23exposed
Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.66.7%33.3%0.0%4.42exposed
Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order.50.0%25.0%25.0%4.57exposed
Prepare reports on students and activities as required by administration.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.94exposed
Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guests, or other experiential activities and guide students in learning from those activities.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.86exposed
Confer with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons promoting learning, following approved curricula.45.0%30.0%25.0%4.01exposed
Collaborate with other teachers and administrators in the development, evaluation, and revision of preschool programs.45.0%30.0%25.0%3.90exposed
Meet with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress.30.0%20.0%50.0%3.80exposed
Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies.28.7%13.0%58.3%3.76untouched
Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.25.0%50.0%25.0%4.57assisted
Administer tests to help determine children's developmental levels, needs, and potential.23.3%26.7%50.0%3.69assisted
Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.22.2%27.8%50.0%4.42assisted
Prepare and implement remedial programs for students requiring extra help.20.0%30.0%50.0%4.08assisted
Read books to entire classes or to small groups.15.0%10.0%75.0%4.39untouched
Supervise, evaluate, and plan assignments for teacher assistants and volunteers.13.8%23.8%62.5%3.75untouched
Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists.13.3%20.0%66.7%4.42untouched
Demonstrate activities to children.11.7%13.3%75.0%4.28untouched
Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.10.0%15.0%75.0%4.60untouched
Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and needs, determine their priorities for their children, and suggest ways that they can promote learning and development.10.0%15.0%75.0%4.47untouched
Teach proper eating habits and personal hygiene.10.0%15.0%75.0%4.28untouched
Arrange indoor and outdoor space to facilitate creative play, motor-skill activities, and safety.5.8%6.7%87.5%4.29untouched
Provide students with disabilities with assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.5.0%20.0%75.0%4.00untouched
Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.57untouched
Serve meals and snacks in accordance with nutritional guidelines.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.54untouched
Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.53untouched
Assimilate arriving children to the school environment by greeting them, helping them remove outerwear, and selecting activities of interest to them.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.42untouched
Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.41untouched
Enforce all administration policies and rules governing students.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.22untouched
Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.99untouched
Organize and label materials and display students' work in a manner appropriate for their ages and perceptual skills.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.97untouched
Attend staff meetings and serve on committees as required.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.62untouched
Perform administrative duties, such as hall and cafeteria monitoring and bus loading and unloading.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.86untouched

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.