Questions have been raised about what criteria to use in selecting, training, and hiring teachers, and when those measures should be taken--at the time of entrance to teacher preparation programs or at the end of training and at the time of certification. Another question concerns the demonstrated teaching competency of the teachers selected and prepared by institutions relying on rigorous admission and exit criteria. A final question emerges about the employment of student teachers who do demonstrate competence on tests in performance. This paper reports on a series of five studies conducted at a major university over a two-year period. Admission criteria, performance and employment of student teachers were examined in the light of scores on the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) for General Knowledge or for disicpline specialization in either the life sciences, physical sciences or social studies areas. Results show that the NTE tests do not contribute additional information about the student teachers that isn't already available through other measures, nor does NTE predict either teaching performance or employment of teachers. (JD)