Findings from a study that explored the ways in which principals use information on school quality are presented in this paper. The effects of school level, years of administrative experience, students' socioeconomic status, and school performance are also examined. Methodology involved interviews and follow-up interviews with a total of 38 elementary, middle, and high school principals from 12 California school districts. Findings indicate that the most frequently used information source is school/classroom observation, and that test data are most frequently used to communicate with teachers and parents and to identify areas of instructional strengths and weaknesses. Recommendations are made for improving principal analysis of school data and communication with the public. Appendices contain the interview protocol, comment sheet, and survey data (8 graphs and 5 tables). (LMI)