Though teacher education has long been considered a "weak intervention" (Richardson, 1996), inquiry into the effects of stronger, sustained models of preparation have been lacking, particularly in literacy education. In this longitudinal study, we traced a set of novice teacher candidates from their initial training in inquiry-based literacy instruction through their student teaching and first-year inservice experiences to assess the influence of ambitious teacher education on the subsequent beliefs and practices. Our findings suggest that when inculcated with a vision of ambitious instruction novice teachers may be able to internalize and sustain this vision regardless of the environments or cultural norms of school settings in which they work.