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The majority of publications on field education in social work are descriptive and theoretical contributions (Colby, 2014; Holden, Barker, Rosenberg, Kuppens, & Ferrell, 2011; Yaffe, 2013). They include a focus on the threats that field education faces (Rhodes, Ward, Ligon, & Priddy, 1999), field education models (Raskin, Wayne, & Bogo, 2008; Sankar, 2013; Wayne, Bogo, & Raskin, 2015), gatekeeping (Raymond & Sowbel, 2015), the experiences of students (Hopkins, Deal, & Bloom, 2005; Kindle & Colby, 2008), and the experiences of field directors (Buck, Fletcher, & Bradley, 2015). Rigorous analyses of field education mandates and outcomes, however, have not been documented. This is true despite the fact that the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)'s Council on Accreditation (COA) mandates a minimum number of field hours. The assumption held by many is that competency is developed and demonstrated through the experience of field practicum, the profession's signature pedagogy. Yet, there is no published evidence examining how the required minimum hours of field education relate to the achievement of competency in social work practice.
The mandate in the U.S. of 400 hours for BSW students and 900 hours for MSW students was set in 1982 by the CSWE's COA. In their report to the House of Delegates, the COA admitted that requiring a minimum number of hours was simply "arbitrary," as reported by Raskin et al. (2008). The COA agreed to include a minimum number of hours to appease programs who needed backing to request adequate financial support for field education. Almost without doubt, "these standards are based more on tradition and the widespread assumption that they reflect the necessary components of quality field education than on evidence of their effectiveness" (Raskin et al., 2008, p. 173). The 900 field practicum hours required by CSWE for MSW students can be achieved with two 8-hour workdays across four standard semesters, suggesting that this was likely the standard by which this total was decided. Social work programs currently implement this minimum requirement in different forms. For example, many schools in the U.S. require a minimum number of hours in excess of the CSWE standards, typically 21 to 24 hours per week. Some programs allow the minimum required amount to be spread through the week in blocks of...