An abundance of research on principals as instructional leaders reveals their confusion about their job descriptions and suggests means of improving their instructional leadership. Recent literature addresses three questions about principal roles: (1) how a principal determines his or her relationship to teachers and students; (2) how principals manage their time, compared to managers in industry; and (3) what characteristics are shared by effective principals. Research shows that principals' job descriptions are vague, leaving their instructional leadership duties to their own discretion. Furthermore, principals' time is generally managed more sporadically than the smooth schedules of executives. Effective principals, though, seem to exhibit effective organizational qualities and vision in establishing and maintaining high instructional standards in a confident educational environment. Thus, principals' instructional leadership can best be improved by better defining their roles, developing fair evaluation and incentive systems for them, and developing on a districtwide basis plans for leadership improvement that specify leadership objectives, activities, resources, and timelines. (JW)