The Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (the Council) wants to ensure initial teacher education (ITE) graduates have the capability to successfully teach in today's environments as well as have the skills to adapt to meet the needs of teaching in the future. The Council has asked NZCER to undertake a literature review of research to help build an evidence base about what high quality practica looks like, to inform future programme requirements and to provide a practical resource for the ITE sector. The Council wants to identify the features of practica arrangements that lead to stronger graduating teacher outcomes; that is, confident graduates who are able to use adaptive expertise to problem solve and lift learner achievement, and who are ready to teach when they start their first teaching position in a school, kura or centre. Questions this review addresses include: (1) What are the features of high quality practica that have a positive impact on outcomes for student teachers; (2) What are the features of high quality theory and practice integration within other parts of the ITE programme (course work) that have a positive impact on outcomes for student teachers; and (3) What can we learn from other professions about integrating theory and practice in professional education? The review attempts to address all ITE contexts in New Zealand and other jurisdictions.The literature scan focused on practica in ITE but included research in other professions (e.g., medicine, psychology, nursing or social work). Researchers were somewhat surprised at how little of the literature is related to research on practicum or on theory to practice. The review of the literature determined that it is hard to disentangle practica from other aspects of ITE provision, even when articles are specifically about extended experiences in schools/ECE settings. Researchers have found very little literature that is concerned with structural elements of practica. There is a lack of research linking ITE and graduating teacher or student outcomes. Only one article that incorporates a specifically Maori perspective and one that relates to Maori-medium contexts was found. There is a lack of literature on bilingual programmes, including practica. The voice of associate/mentor teachers seems to be largely missing from the research, and there seems to be very limited research on mixed media/distance programmes even though these have operated in New Zealand for more than 25 years. While some findings (e.g., about the need for a shared vision or purpose) are applicable across a range of programmes, other findings are more relevant to particular pathways. The review took researchers down a number of "side-alleys" and it was challenging to work out the extent to which the findings would add most value to the literature review. Another limitation is in the nature of the bulk of the research--one-off, small-scale projects on individual programmes and/or practica experiences predominate. The literature review has revealed many similarities in the suggestions for ongoing improvement of practica and practice in ITE. High quality programmes have all of the characteristics identified in the research and in exemplary programmes summarised. As a result it was concluded there is no point in tinkering with practicum arrangements if fundamental ideas about ITE are not addressed. This will require collaboration of all parties involved in the preparation of new teachers and shared acceptance of responsibility.