Field Experiences in Special Education Teacher Preparation: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Field experiences are often considered by researchers, leading organizations, and accrediting bodies as a critical component of special education teacher preparation. Yet, much remains unknown about the types or numbers of field experiences that will best prepare special education teacher candidates. Given the ongoing changes in the field of teacher education to move toward practice-based approaches and increasing calls for more rigorous research, we aim to update the review conducted by Nagro and deBettencourt, which looked at special education field experiences from 2000 to 2014. Specifically, we conducted a systematic literature review of the research on field experiences including special education teacher candidates that have been published from 2013 to 2020 to examine what is known about participants, field experience duration and settings, field experience instructional approaches and content, field experience activities, and methodologies employed. We discuss findings for special education teacher preparation, including future research directions.