To gather information about local Alaskan schooling, researchers surveyed 327 rural school site administrators to determine their backgrounds, school activities, expectations of student performance, perceptions of school-community relations, and perceptions of the roles of actors in school governance. Results of the questionnaire indicated that rural principals in Alaska are likely to be middle-aged Caucasian males with at least 5 years of teaching experience and 3 years experience as a principal. Overall, rural principals spend significant amounts of time on classroom instruction and also on general administration, building maintenance, and support staff supervision. For principals in larger rural schools, administration, supervision, and maintenance are the main activities. Although principals' opinions of their students' abilities and of the conditions for learning and achievement in their schools are high, half are dissatisfied with student performance and most feel that their students will not progress beyond high school. The involvement of principals in community activities is extensive and usually related to education. Principals also participate in all areas of school governance and are the most influential in six of the eight areas surveyed; further, they perceive themselves as being the most important figure in overall school governance. (SB)