To identify school-level policies and practices and to see if they reinforced mastery and performance goals for students, interviews were conducted with five principals in schools participating in a collaborative effort to move selected classrooms toward a focus on mastery and learning. Interviews were designed to help understand how principals' goals related to the implementation of school policy, how their approach might differ from that of teachers, and how goals are communicated from the superintendent to principals to teachers to students. Anecdotes are employed to illustrate variation in the goals and practices of the principals and of the superintendent who was also interviewed. Two major themes are explored in the interview analysis: (1) the extent to which the emphasis on mastery and performance goals coexist and conflict across district, school; and (2) classroom levels and the extent to which the superintendent's expectations and articulated policies impact the autonomy of principals, teachers, and the everyday life of students. The results suggest that school and district administrators must work together with teachers to ensure that policies and practices within classroom, district, and school are compatible. (19 references) (EJS)