The Office of Special Education Clinical Experiences collaborates with the school districts, the NIU supervisor team, and the university faculty to provide pre-service teachers with opportunities to professionally develop as exemplary educators and life long learners. Special education teachers within the Department of Teaching and Learning are prepared within a community of teachers, university faculty, and administrators who share a goal to produce exemplary educators for the 21st century. This learning community facilitates a program based on knowledge, practice, and reflection. Students in special education are guided through a teacher preparation program that emphasizes creative and critical thinking, scholarship, caring, and lifelong learning.