Given the focus on developing highly-qualified teachers to improve education, teacher education programs face increasing responsibility to prepare new teachers who can effectively enhance learning in all students. Standards and assessment criteria developed by national organizations in the United States address the qualifications of beginning as well as experienced teachers and all emphasize student learning. The aim is that beginning teachers will not just manage classroom activities but assess and promote student understanding. However, the extent to which novice teachers can focus on instructional outcomes before mastering classroom management is a matter of debate. Whereas some researchers propose that beginning teachers need years to move from concerns about management to concerns about student learning, others contend that a shift can occur during teacher preparation. This study explores this issue by examining preservice teachers' descriptions of effective and ineffective teaching experiences near the end of their preparation program. Using written documents collected over five years, the study specifically investigates the extent to which preservice teachers (1) focused on instruction or classroom management; (2) identified student understanding in their descriptions; and (3) considered factors related to student learning in their reasoning about their actions. (Contains 1 table.)