During the fifth quarter, after they have completed student teaching, they complete five to six weeks of additional student teaching in special education. Two placements during the first quarter allow the students to experience one middle school or junior high school, and one high school. One school is more diverse in population and one is less. Because Washington State schools generally practice some form of inclusion the field placement includes working with children with special needs in their regular class placements. I.H.2 Field experiences encourage reflection by candidates and include feedback from higher education faculty, school faculty and peers.
Reflection is encouraged throughout the program, as indicated earlier.
While students are in their field placements in partner schools, the Site Coordinator, a school faculty member or administrator who is paid a stipend by the University of Washington, meets weekly with all students in that school in a reflective session which focuses on field experiences. On campus the reflective sessions meet weekly for one hour. They are led by Teaching Assistants and often focus on the integration of field and university classroom experiences. TA who is leading a reflective seminar. Since academic class projects often require work in the field, University professors are kept in contact with field work through the case studies and other class assignments.