The purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate whether or not selected academic ability indices and personal characteristics of 117 teachers were associated with changes in their attitude toward their teaching as a career measured upon the commencement of training, the end of student teaching, and completion of their fifth year of teaching. Mixed model two-way ANOVA procedures revealed that the attitude toward teaching of the neophyte teachers remained stable and positive during teacher preparation but were less positive near the end of their fifth year of teaching; that ACT scores, Rotter's locus of control, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator preferences, gender, grade level of instruction, when the decision to teach was made, and initial degree of assurance about becoming teachers were associated with attitude toward teaching as a career; and that university and education grade point averages, Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills scores, and student teacher performance ratings were not associated with their attitude toward teaching. Significant time in career development, locus of control, and initial degree of assurance interactions were identified, revealing contrasting changes in attitude development during teacher preparation for candidates more and less certain about teaching and similar contrasting changes during the early years of teaching for candidates with internal and external control orientations. These two interactions indicated that the development of attitude toward teaching does not follow the same pattern for all teacher candidates and suggested a possible explanation for the sometimes apparent contradictions noted in the findings from previous research of teacher attitude development. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/ND)