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This chapter focuses on the school placement element of Initial Teacher Education provision. It opens with an examination of a range of issues characterising research and writing about placement at global level before considering the vernacular nuances of the Scottish context. The chapter then turns to the problematic matter of quality in teaching practice and argues against reifying school placement as something that exists separate or apart from the student teachers who participate in it. It challenges simplistic analyses of the quality of the placement in terms of external provision through supportive mentoring relationships within a welcoming organisational culture. Drawing on data from the author's recent research, the relational nature of the school placement is emphasised and an argument promoted that individual student teachers make significant contributions to the nature of the support they experience on placement. Implications for further research are considered in the conclusion.

Using a sample of 446 secondary students who had participated in a vocational education and training in school (VETiS) program, compares the experiences and perceptions of students who had undertaken a work placement with those who had not. Shows that students who had participated in work placement enjoyed the VETiS experience more than those who had not, and that the work placement had assisted them in their decision whether to stay at school or not. A factor analysis of results showed a factor associated with self‐confidence about employability, and a factor associated with assistance in achieving specific post‐school employment. Students who had completed a work placement were significantly higher on both these factors than students who had not. Results are consistent with other research in the field, and it is argued that the work placement experience plays a considerable part in developing student agency in the decisions and the journey that they make in their transition from school to work.

Approximately 3000 children and young people with learning disabilities attend residential schools or other residential placements. Many of these young people have complex needs, and their placement reflects a failure of local provision to support their families and provide inclusive local services. Such placements reduce family contact, increase young people's vulnerability and accentuate the difficulties of transition to local adult provision. We should reduce the need for residential school placements by substantially improving the quality of family support and the capacity and inclusiveness of local services. Returning young people to their local communities requires a significant improvement in local authority planning so that local capacity can be developed to meet their needs.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how data are used in classroom placement routines. The authors explore educators’ assumptions about the purposes of the classroom placement routine, detailing the ostensive (i.e. structure and template) and performative aspects of the routine itself, and the implications of data use for equity and leadership practices.

Using a multi-site case study involving in-depth interviews of teacher and school leaders and observations of meetings, the authors examined the role that data played in classroom placement routines in three elementary schools in the USA.

Findings show that educators across schools collected similar types of multi-dimensional data; however, analysis and decision-making processes varied based on their assumptions and goals. Assessing student needs holistically and balancing students across classes based on academic diversity, behavioral or socio-emotional needs, gender and teacher workload were consistent patterns. There was a distinct difference between collecting data and actually using it as a basis of decision making.

These findings highlight the importance of using in-depth observations to understand data use in schools. Educators’ assumptions and philosophies about classroom placement contributed to the pattern of discussion and decisions made throughout the routines. Delving deeper into how data are used in specific routines and organizational contexts can illuminate how data use is socially constructed and enacted for equity.

Educators who guide school routines have the power to maintain taken-for-granted assumptions about students, or to create counter-narratives.

This study provides insights into classroom and student placement processes by emphasizing the social and interactional dimensions of data use as they unfold in practice. It also extends empirical knowledge about the purposes, dimensions, and uses of data-driven decision making models.

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) receive educational and related services within a continuum of placement options per the Individual with Disabilities Education Act. The continuum of placement options ranges from fully included general education type classrooms to more restrictive environments such as alternative education settings, residential facilities, and schools within secure juvenile justice facilities. A specific placement option is based on the individualized academic and social needs of the student and includes the least restrictive environment to meet those needs. After the IFSP or IEP team develops a student's IFSP or IEP, then the team makes a placement decision. Multiple factors influence initial placement decisions including an overall reluctance to identify students with E/BD, false positives and negatives, co-morbidity, and disproportionality. Other factors may influence a temporary or long-term change in placement such as inappropriate student behavior and/or academic failure. No matter the placement, the educational services provided within each should be evidence-based, implemented with fidelity, be individualized, and be socially valid.

This brief survey looks at library school fieldwork placements and the current problems and constraints. It does not approach the subject from a theoretical viewpoint, but looks at the practicalities of the situation, as they are experienced by placement tutors/liaison officers, host librarians and students. No attempt is made to review the considerable literature originating on both sides of the Atlantic and elsewhere. The emphasis is on current views and all material was collected between October 1985 and February 1986. Comments on library school practices have deliberately been kept brief, as their point is not to inform academics, who are well aware of the position, but to promote understanding. All too often there is a communication gap, and many librarians, and indeed many students, may not realise the parameters within which a school is operating. Similarly tutors and students may not fully understand the constraints affecting librarians/information officers in a vast range of institutions. Tutors and librarians may lose sight of the students' needs and the heavy demands that placement can make on them.

Examines the issues which are involved in teacher placements from the viewpoint of the teacher and the business person. Demonstrates the work of the Teacher Placement Service in ensuring that teacher placements become central to school development priorities and improving the quality and quantity of business placements in education. Emphasizes the importance of partnership between education and business to increase the pupils′ understanding of industry and prepare them for the world of work.

Little is known about the characteristics of residential educational settings for young people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) in England. Previous research has focussed on the characteristics and experiences of the young people attending such settings rather than the setting itself; therefore, an overview of national provision is needed. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

As part of a larger project, data were collected for all residential schools and colleges in England. Data relate to settings offering residential provision for at least 4 nights per week for 30 weeks per year, either at the school/college itself, or in an associated residential home. Due to the remit of the main project, settings offering placements only to young people aged under 16 were excluded. Data were collected from a range of sources, including school/college websites, Ofsted and Department for Education resources, and liaison directly with the setting.

In total, 342 residential educational settings were identified with 57 of these offering post-16 provisions only. A range of data is presented about these settings, including location, placement numbers and types available, age range catered for, special educational needs categories registered for, governance arrangements (e.g. LA maintained, privately owned, and charitable organisation), and Ofsted educational ratings.

These data provide a national overview of residential educational settings for young people with IDD. This enables a clearer picture of the location and type of provision offered and allows comparisons both within and between areas.

In order to prepare new members of the education profession, it is imperative that teachers enter their classrooms with the confidence, knowledge, and skills to serve their students from day one. One method for preparing such teacher candidates or student teachers is through school-based field placements during their preparation program. The purpose of this paper is to describe one example of a yearlong field placement and the mentoring relationships that emerged among participants.

This qualitative study used the following data sources: focus group interviews among the teacher candidates, focus group interviews among the mentor teachers, field placement reflections and teaching analyses composed by the teacher candidates, and interviews conducted among teacher candidates and mentor teachers.

Analysis of the data revealed that the yearlong field placement promoted positive mentoring relationships between teacher candidates and their classroom teachers. Specifically the following themes emerged: the “adoption” of teacher candidates into the high school classrooms, risk-taking within the classrooms, the mentor teachers’ use of constructive feedback, and collaborative “mentoring-down-the-hall.”

In recent years, various scholars have investigated the impact of field placement experiences on teacher candidates; however, these studies have lacked a detailed analysis of how such experiences impacted mentoring relationships among candidates and their mentor teachers in a collaborative setting. This paper provides an in-depth study of the perceived experiences of mentor teachers and their candidates.

Placing gifted and talented students together organizationally is not a substitute for appropriate services. The placement or program model fundamentally serves as a vehicle to group or organize students together but programming, in practice, sometimes referred to as a service delivery model, is not the same thing as service. Placement is a management strategy. It must be coupled with curriculum and instructional modifications in order for substantial and positive academic and social–emotional effects to occur for gifted and talented students. Specifically, the program placement model is only as good as the curriculum and instructional models provided within that placement. This chapter provides descriptions and research evidence of the macro program models used for serving gifted students and more commonly used program placement models for grouping gifted students together within the traditional school day and beyond. Non-negotiable components and future directions are also discussed within the context of placement.