In this mixed-method causal comparative and interview-based study, I developed an understanding of the way in which school principals perceived their level of preparedness. The effectiveness of two types of leadership preparation programs, traditional-university based and alternative, were considered on principal preparedness. One hundred and twenty-six elementary principals from suburban Westchester school districts were surveyed and six of the 126 principals were interviewed. The sample principals were members of a PNWBOCES Elementary Principals Group. The group consisted of tenured principals with three or more years of experience that are ethnically and racially diverse. To examine the effectiveness of leadership programs, a survey created by Adkins (2001), and adapted by this author, was used. The survey, "School Administrator Preparedness Survey," consisted of two parts. The first part collected demographic information, including sex, age, administrative position, number of years in administration, total numbers of years in the domain of education, and preparation program type. The second section contained six sub-sections organized by the variables of vision, culture, management, collaboration, integrity, and context derived from the "Performance Expectations and Indicators for Education Leaders, An ISLLC-Based Guide to Implementing Leader Standards and a Comparison Guide to the Education Leadership Policy Standards" (ISLLC, 2008). The survey was pilot tested with acting school principals to determine reliability and validity. The principals who were interviewed were stratified by type of program, and then solicited volunteers based on their alternative or traditional principal preparation program experience. The data collected showed that 27 of the 50 respondents were prepared by an alternative district-based program, and 23 were prepared by a traditional university-based program. The results were that participants who attended alternative district-based preparation programs had significantly higher scores on vision, culture, and context. In contrast, no significant differences were found between the two groups in management, collaboration, and integrity. The data distilled from the interviews showed that principals who were prepared in alternative programs had a stronger sense of preparedness toward meeting ISLLC Standards and credited their program's features as benchmarks of their perceived preparedness. These data showed that these new program types exist and that significant numbers of individuals prepared by these programs have a better-perceived preparedness to meet standards through program preparation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]