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AI Job Risk

Occupation baseline · Research consensus

Will AI replace Special Education Teachers, Elementary School?

Lower risk

Baseline AI displacement risk for Special Education Teachers, Elementary School, aggregated from 3 research sources.

What this score means

Special Education Teachers, Elementary School leans toward the safer end for Education. Parts of the role touch tasks AI is getting good at, but the core still depends on hands on work or judgment that resists automation. At 27 out of 100 it scores 12 points below the Education average of 39. Across the 3 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 5 to 47, so the score is a weighted consensus rather than any single figure.

The number is a consensus estimate for the typical version of the role, built from published academic and industry research scored occupation by occupation. It is not a prediction about any individual. How scoring works

What this job actually involves

Exposure follows the work itself rather than the job title, so it is worth seeing what the role is made of. These are the tasks O*NET records for Special Education Teachers, Elementary School, most central first, showing 12 of 30.

  • 01Instruct students with disabilities in academic subjects, using a variety of techniques, such as phonetics, multisensory learning, or repetition to reinforce learning and meet students' varying needs.
  • 02Develop or implement strategies to meet the needs of students with a variety of disabilities.
  • 03Teach socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification or positive reinforcement.
  • 04Modify the general elementary education curriculum for students with disabilities.
  • 05Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, or administrative regulations.
  • 06Prepare classrooms with a variety of materials or resources for children to explore, manipulate, or use in learning activities or imaginative play.
  • 07Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
  • 08Provide assistive devices, supportive technology, or assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.
  • 09Coordinate placement of students with special needs into mainstream classes.
  • 10Observe and evaluate students' performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
  • 11Encourage students to explore learning opportunities or persevere with challenging tasks to prepare them for later grades.
  • 12Confer with parents, administrators, testing specialists, social workers, or other professionals to develop individual educational plans (IEPs) for students' educational, physical, or social development.

Task statements from O*NET by the National Center for O*NET Development, used under CC BY 4.0. The tasks are descriptive; the exposure score above is ours.

The research behind this score

This baseline aggregates 3 research sources that scored Special Education Teachers, Elementary School for AI and automation exposure. More recent, higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

Common questions

How likely is AI to replace Special Education Teachers, Elementary School?
Published research puts Special Education Teachers, Elementary School at 27 out of 100 for AI displacement risk, in the lower risk band. The number is a weighted consensus of 3 research sources and describes the typical version of the role, not any individual.
Do researchers agree on the risk for Special Education Teachers, Elementary School?
Only partly. Individual estimates for Special Education Teachers, Elementary School run from 5 to 47 out of 100 across the 3 sources behind this score, so the single number smooths over real disagreement. More recent and higher confidence studies carry more weight in it.
Which education roles face similar AI exposure?
The closest published education roles to Special Education Teachers, Elementary School by score are Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School (27/100), Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education (27/100), and Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten (28/100). Each has its own page with the research behind its number.

Also covers

APE Teacher (Adapted Physical Education Teacher) · Academic Interventionist · Behavior Interventionist · Behavior Specialist · Blind Teacher · Braille Teacher · Cross-Categorical SPED Teacher (Cross-Categorical Special Education Teacher) · Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher (DHH Teacher) and related titles

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Informational guidance based on published research, not professional career or financial advice. Scores update as new research is ingested.