This study investigated the ability of preservice secondary school history and social studies teachers to transmit knowledge of the subject to students through methodologies designed to translate theory into practice. Participants in the study were 23 student teachers certified to teach history and social studies by Washburn University (Kansas) from spring 1985 through spring 1990 and their respective cooperating teachers. Cooperating teachers completed a rating scale and provided data regarding teaching abilities demonstrated by student teachers. Student teachers also provided data by using the same evaluative instrument for assessing their own abilities in history and social studies. The other areas of the evaluation included the student teachers' ability to transmit subject matter to students and to translate theory into practice. Results suggest that cooperating teachers tended to rate student teachers higher than the preservice teachers rated themselves. Five appendices, comprising about 80 percent of this document are: (1) history and social studies tables, the mean and standard deviation; (2) tables ranking mean values derived from the evaluation of student teachers in history; (3) tables ranking mean values derived from the evaluation of student teachers in social studies; (4) tables presenting frequency of response to numerical position on rating scale; and (5) the evaluative instruments. (LL)