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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to answer the question, what progress student teachers make during one academic year, while being trained in a professional learning community, using objective classroom observation, using lesson preparation templates that match their developmental stage and stage-focused mentor feedback. Design/methodology/approach The teaching skills of the student teachers (n=101) were measured at the start and at the end of the academic year. For the measurements, the standardized and psychometrically tested International Comparative Analysis of Learning and Teaching observation instrument is used. Findings The student teachers achieved a small growth on the basic teaching skills and a medium growth on two of the three advanced skills for teachers. Research limitations/implications Because of the lack of a control group, causal conclusions cannot be made. This research provides knowledge on the actual observed level of teaching skills of student teachers trained in a close collaborating professional learning community. Originality/value Little is known about the actual growth of observable teaching skills of student teachers in elementary education. Teacher training colleges and internship schools in the Netherlands are in search of better ways to collaborate more closely in order to improve the quality of teaching of their student teachers. These findings can inspire teacher training communities to improve their own teaching quality and the teaching quality of their student teachers.

With the foundation of teacher training colleges, the necessity arose to align what was being taught at these professional schools with what was being practiced at the internship schools. General textbooks published in this period show that student teachers received instruction on the correct use of learning plans, which use became mandatory after the introduction of the law on Elementary education in 1920. Despite of incentives found in the literature for the preparation of lessons, it is unclear whether lesson preparation already functioned as a guidance instrument for student teachers, supporting them to align the theory taught at the teacher training colleges with the practice at the internship schools. Period of pluriform usage of lesson preparation (1952 until 1970) 32 Chapter 2 The structure of the lesson preparation system was prescribed by the individual teacher training college. Not all lesson preparation suggestions as included in the general textbooks were found in the preparations made. However, the mentor as well as the college teacher were involved in the process of learning to teach as can be seen on the evaluation and feedback found on the lesson preparations.