The results of a survey, comments on the results, and an annotated bibliography are presented in this preliminary study of the impact of federal programs, mandates, and regulations on school principals. The survey involved interviewing 20 principals in urban, suburban, and small-town elementary and secondary schools in the Chicago area about federal programs' impact on their jobs and their reactions to this impact. The results indicated federal programs increased the principalship's complexity, by increasing the responsibility and pressure to conform to others' priorities without increasing power, authority, or staff resources; by decreasing autonomy; and by giving principals a sense of surveillance by a distant national government. Principals became in response either"affirmers" of the programs' worth, "ventilators" who expressed distress, "irritated" principals who were far more negative, or "presumably unaffected" principals who experienced less impact. The survey report includes a copy of the interview schedule. Comments on the survey and the research problem are by Dan C. Lortie, Van Cleve Morris, Hannah Meara, and Bruce R. Thomas. The annotated bibliography covers seven topics, including principal response to federal regulations, program implementation, legal issues, and principal job satisfaction. (Author/RW)