Abstract: Purpose. The purpose of this investigation of teacher's perceptions of principal's leadership behavior and student achievement (reading) was to explore those factors of principal's leader behaviors that differentiate low achieving and high achieving schools as perceived by teachers. Sample. Two hundred sixty-one teachers in seven selected northeast Ohio school district and seventeen buildings participated in this study. Teachers in this study had at least three years of experience and one or more years of supervision from the principals whose leadership behavior they described. Instrument. The revised Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire Form XII was used. This instrument measured only four subscales, consideration Initiating Structure, Persuasion and Superior Orientation. This instrument was used to explore answer to five research questions. Findings. The study results did not support the premise that the leader behavior task structure differentiated effective from ineffective schools. Teachers in both groups of schools perceived that principals exhibited this characteristic. However, the results revealed that the leader behavior, consideration, did differ at the .05 level of significance as perceived by teachers between principals in high and low achieving schools. The data also showed that discrepancy existed between principals self perception and teacher perceptions of the leader behavior, superior orientation at the .05 level of significance. The data also revealed that the level of staff involvement, such as awareness, implementation, and curricular focus was more evident in low achieving than in high achieving schools. Conclusion. The investigation concluded that there is substantial need for further exploration of the leadership variable. An important recommendation is that additional research be initiated using the LBDQ and other research instruments as a strategy to consistently operationalize the leadership characteristics of Effective Schools Movement.