Abstract
Field experiences are considered by many as the most important aspect of teacher preparation programs yet relatively little is known about where teachers should learn to teach and how these experiences impact early career decisions. Teacher educators often prefer to place pre-service teachers in low-turnover schools that are thought to provide desirable settings for development but those settings differ from where most new teachers ultimately find jobs. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design this investigation explored the distinctive features of early field experience sites and how field experiences ultimately impacted career decisions. Findings indicate that teachers seek employment and stay in schools that match their field experience sites and the relationship between where teachers ultimately seek employment appears to be heavily moderated by whether early field experiences were positive or negative. Additionally, teacher perceptions of school characteristics differed from other school-based measures commonly used in teacher retention research. The implications for teacher education programs and placement practices are discussed.