Many problems arise from inaccurate expectations for preservice teacher education and its relationship to what goes on in elementary and secondary schools. Preservice education is expected to provide schools with a continuous supply of highly qualified candidates. However, preservice teacher education exerts little proactive control over teacher supply, which is governed by large marketplace factors such as perceptions of the occupation, expectations of job opportunities, and relative salary advantages. Preservice education is also expected to provide fully prepared and competent teachers, able to handle the daily work of schools without further support or assistance. New teachers are expected to be a source of research-based innovations in teaching. Pressures on schools of education are such that much time is spent defining and rearranging credit hours rather than focusing on such basic questions as what a teacher must reasonably know to function effectively in the classroom. The expectations of new teachers are often unrealistically high, and when they are faced with the realities of the classroom, students, school administration, and extrinsic rewards, disillusionment is frequent. Specific recommendations are offered for building toward much needed reform in preservice teacher education programs to prepare prospective teachers for the realities of their profession. (JD)