Teachers are held accountable for improving the literacy skills of PreK-12 pupils. However, the processes (or lack thereof) by which teachers at the various levels of schooling are deemed skilled and become actually prepared for such complex challenge have not been explored in depth. This article focuses on urban preservice teachers' beliefs regarding their own writing skills, compared to their actual performance on a cold prompt. Findings indicate that there is little consistency between participants' beliefs and actual writing performance. Implications for teacher educators and policy-making are offered. (Contains 2 tables.)