School leaders face high expectations from society for leadership effectiveness. While it
is commonly accepted that leadership practices contribute to school excellence, specific
behaviors of effective elementary principals in the local context were not well
understood. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate self-reported
leadership practices of school leaders by identifying characteristics of 10 highly effective
elementary principals in a metropolitan school district. The theoretical framework for this
study was based upon James Burns’ work associated with leadership actions, behaviors,
and practices which influenced leadership effectiveness. Research questions compared
transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire behaviors of participants. The research
design was a mixed methods concurrent nested strategy approach. Key transformational
leadership behaviors were identified through the use of the Multifactor Leadership
Questionnaire and data were quantified through descriptive statistics. Insights into
leadership development and effectiveness were gathered through semistructured
interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis of common themes and
an open coding process of interview responses. Findings indicated transformational
practices resulted in academic success of students and attributed to leader effectiveness.
Recommendations suggested the need to present professional learning experiences and
training programs for all school leaders. Implications for positive social change includes
implementing leadership development programs that increase school leaders
transformational leadership practices, thus, impacting teachers’ instruction and students’
performance.