The study discussed in this paper examined changes which occurred during the student teaching experience of elementary education majors regarding their ability to teach selected critical thinking skills. Data were obtained from student teachers (N=45) immediately before and after their student teaching experience. Self-confidence was measured by scoring the Mississippi State University Survey of Confidence in Teaching Reading (SCTR) piloted exclusively for this investigation. The SCTR contained five clusters of reading skills typically taught by classroom teachers in elementary schools. A critical thinking skills cluster contained 13 items on which students were asked to rate their perceived confidence or ability to actually conduct selected assessment activities with children in classrooms. Findings indicated that following the student teaching experience subjects exhibited significantly more confidence in their ability to conduct reading activities that involved critical thinking skills. Consistent with the literature, this study concludes that a powerful impact derives from the student teaching experience. A summary of T-Test Comparisons between pre- and poststudent teachers on critical thinking skills is provided in tabular form. (LL)