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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.

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.

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.

Purpose – Mobility of youth in multiple foster care placements contributes to diminished life chances and outcomes. Foster care youth mobility during care results in numerous school changes within one academic year which hinders educational achievement. This qualitative study examines a group of Latino alumni of foster care and their experiences related to housing and education.

Methodology – Interviews with 25 young Latino adults ranging in age from 18 to 22 examined foster care placement, transitions to independence, and experiences after foster care. Researchers used a semi-structured interview guide, and tape-recorded interviews transcribed and coded for emergent themes.

Findings – Results suggest that as youth experience school mobility, social capital aids in promoting positive educational experiences. This research emphasizes the importance of positive social capital for Latino foster care youth and their educational achievement, evidenced in both adult and peer social networks. Few studies have examined Latino foster care youth experiences, and currently there are no studies that address educational experiences of these youth.

The Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act address factors to consider in educating students with and without disabilities together to the maximum extent appropriate. This chapter is designed to examine the origins and evolving interpretations of the LRE concept in special education policy and practice. Discussion traces the evolution of the concept as a legal principle, and reviews its application to educational strategies for students with learning and behavioral disabilities in contemporary schools. In conclusion, the future of the LRE concept is addressed in light of competing policies promoting presumptive inclusive education, and publicly funded school choice programs promoting greater involvement of parents in choosing where their children with and without disabilities should be educated.

Self-employment placements can provide an opportunity to experience the real-life world of the entrepreneur within an educational context but their implementation is rare. Here we describe a full sandwich year placement scheme at the University of Huddersfield – the Enterprise Placement Year (EPY). Details of the EPY are provided including academic requirements, application procedures and the learning opportunities provided. There are a growing number of EPY alumni continuing the development of their business idea or starting up a new business in their final year or after graduation and three examples are provided. In addition to increasing numbers of sustaining businesses, there is evidence of improved academic success with a greater than average percentage of ‘good degrees’ obtained. Regular changes to the delivery of the programme have been made as a result of ongoing evaluation. These are reported here with recommendations for other universities considering offering such a programme and suggestions for future research.

The purpose of this chapter is to describe a study that identified the school variables that seem to have the greatest impact on placement of students in high incidence special education programs (i.e., special programs for students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders, specific learning disabilities, and educable mental handicaps). School records of 42 students who were identified when they were in primary school as at risk for learning, emotional, and behavioral disorders were examined retrospectively over three grades (i.e., grades 3 and 4, grades 5 and 6, and grades 7 and 8). Of these, 21 students had been placed in high incidence special education programs, and 21 had not been placed. Low achievement and academic performance and a high number of negative comments by their teachers were the two most salient variables associated with placement. Implications for prevention/intervention efforts and effective service delivery options are discussed.

The field experience placement is an integral part of teacher education programmes. It is ostensibly meant to provide a place for teacher candidates to enact pedagogical theory gained during coursework under the supervision of an experienced host teacher. In reality, the field placement is a source of considerable tension for teacher candidates, as they struggle to reconcile their prior assumptions about teaching and learning and their prior identities as students with the demands of school culture that requires teachers and students to act in particular ways. The field experience is emotional work that has a considerable impact on the development of new teachers’ identities. In this chapter I will focus on how two new teachers learn during the field experience placement, with a particular emphasis on the roles of emotion and the development of professional identity in learning to teach. Cultural–historical activity theory (CHAT) will provide a useful lens to interpret some of the challenges of learning to teach during the field placement.

Notwithstanding the emergence of hospitality education around the world, the hospitality industry itself has struggled to establish a talent pipeline of young ambitious managers. Typically, only 30% of hospitality students are predicted to develop their careers within the hospitality industry, while the remainder will relocate to other industries such as retail, banking and consulting. Although this manifestation has been globally documented, most studies have simply adopted a quantitative approach in defining this phenomenon; hence, despite its scale being appreciated, less attention has been paid to defining the underlying causes which drive this concern. This study contributes to this issue by interviewing 18 students at three key stages of their practical placements, namely, pre-, during and post their placement, drawing on the ‘Principles of a Sustainable HRM ROC framework’. This chapter concludes with significant findings from which some recommendations have been formulated.

With the move toward a more inclusive educational system across most jurisdictions, the expectation is that students with the most complex needs who have previously attended special schools, will gradually transition into inclusive schools. This expectation raises issues regarding the practicality of this move and the capacity of inclusive schools in being able to provide appropriate support and curriculum for these learners. Examples of transition programs across different countries are discussed to establish the most effective processes, support structures, and initiatives that have been employed to facilitate this transfer. The role of collaboration between schools and a review of support models that are provided for learners with high support needs in inclusive settings are discussed. Compared to the expectations for this move, and to understand the reality of it, perceptions of teachers, parents, and students are considered.