The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of student teaching experiences by measuring teacher candidates' perceptions of their preparedness. The participants were 130 teacher candidates who had completed their student teaching as part of a program preparing them to teach children in pre-K through grade 4. Teacher candidates responded to the survey by recalling their before and after student teaching experiences. A paired t-test was calculated to determine statistical mean differences before and after student teaching on five categories: a) pedagogical content knowledge, b) planning and preparation for instruction, c) classroom management, d) promoting family involvement, and e) professionalism. Mean differences of all of the paired items between pre-and post survey were shown to be statistically significant on all five categories.