This study examined whether teacher candidates' anxiety about teaching in accord with teacher development theory decreased through teacher preparation and the fifth year of teaching and whether changes in anxiety related to academic ability and personal attributes. Participants were 117 teacher candidates who completed approximately 5 years of classroom teaching over the course of the study. They completed the Teaching Anxiety Scale upon commencement of teacher preparation, near the end of student teaching, and near the end of the fifth year of teaching. Data analysis revealed that (1) anxiety decreased from the commencement to the end of teacher preparation, (2) anxiety remained stable from the end of preparation through the fifth year of teaching, and (3) the variance of anxiety levels increased from the beginning of preparation to the fifth year of teaching. Anxiety about teaching related to basic academic skills and ACT scores, locus of control orientation, initial degree of assurance about becoming teachers, and Myers-Briggs extroverted-introverted classifications. Candidates with higher academic skills experienced greater anxiety reduction than their less skilled peers. Anxiety reduction appeared to continue through the first 5 years of teaching for more skilled candidates. Extent of anxiety about teaching did not relate to gender, major, student-teaching performance ratings, presence or absence of teachers in their immediate family, time at which the decision to teach was made, or grade point averages. (Contains 40 references.) (SM)