The purpose of this causal-comparative non-experimental quantitative study was to examine first-year elementary teachers' ratings of their sense of preparedness, compare their ratings based on their ethnicity, and compare teachers' ratings of their preparedness to principals' ratings of first-year teachers' preparedness based on six Texas teaching standards. I used archival data exported from the Texas Education Agency website. Two surveys, Teacher Satisfaction Survey and Principal Survey, were used in the analyses of teacher preparedness. The participants consisted of 198 first-year elementary teachers who graduated from traditional education preparation programs in Northeast and East Texas universities and 197 principals of first-year teachers graduating from the same universities. Descriptive statistics were used to describe how first-year teachers felt about their preparedness. A multivariate analyses of variance was used to answer whether there was a statistically significant difference between first-year elementary teacher preparedness by ethnicity and whether there was a statistically significant difference between first-year elementary teachers' rating and principals' rating of first year elementary teachers' preparedness. All first-year teachers felt sufficiently prepared on all Texas teachers standards. The highest rated standard was Professional Practices and Responsibilities. There was no significant difference in teachers' preparedness by ethnicity; however, there was a statistically significant difference between teachers' and principals' ratings for Instructional Delivery and Planning, Knowledge of Students and Student Learning, Learning Environments, and Professional Practices and Responsibilities. The most notable concern was teachers' preparedness to work with students with disabilities and English language learners. It is important that education preparation programs ensure their teacher candidates are able to effectively teach students with disabilities and the growing population of English language learner students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]