One of California's alternative routes to teacher certification is a teaching intern program in a collaborative arrangement between an institute of higher education (IHE) and local school districts. To help determine whether internship programs are a viable alternative for training teachers in the future, a 5-year longitudinal study has been undertaken to explore the possibilities of developmental differences in teaching quality between beginning teachers (recent graduates of a teacher preparation program) and intern teachers during their first 5 years of teaching. In March 1990, 24 beginning teachers and 23 intern teachers were randomly selected from the California State University, San Bernardino campus. These teachers of grades K-6 represent 11 school districts in Southern California. During the first year, a pilot study was conducted to explore the validity of the proposed longitudinal study. The pilot study used a written survey, classroom observation using a specially designed instrument, follow-up telephone interviews, and a follow-up survey on teacher concerns. The preliminary findings show the intern teachers to be at equivalent levels or just slightly behind regularly credentialed beginning teachers in their developmental processes, a finding that, if borne out by the longitudinal study, will have serious implications for credentialing institutions. A list of 19 references and observation and survey data tables are attached. (AMH)