One thing is certain, accountability is here to stay; accountability exposes the good, the bad, and the ugly. The academic achievement gap between non-White and White students continues to exist in the disaggregated data in individual campuses, within school districts, and within comparison studies across the nation. Thus, school leadership is critical; however, a cognitive shift must be made by leaders from mere management to instructional leadership. Leaders serving predominantly non-White students must have a well developed skill set to move the organization to success. Determining what the skill set looks like is a major task for hiring authorities. This investigation sought to find key factors of middle/junior high school principals that led to success as judged by performance on state assessments and the accountability rating of the school assigned by the state. The sample included 66 middle/junior high school principals in Texas in both urban surrounding public school districts. The participants completed a web-based survey to determine the details of the variables math/science competence, emotional intelligence, years of experience in administration, and alignment of administrative experience with the principalship accepted. The Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) was used to determine emotional intelligence. Although the multiple regression statistical method did not yield any linear relationships, the intercorrelation results between the independent and dependent variables yielded a negative correlation between math/science competence and campus accountability assigned by Texas Education Agency. However, the researcher noted that the majority of the math/science competent principals led schools that had low performance in science before they assumed the role as principal, and that during the principals' tenure student performance in science increased. This investigation showed that hiring authorities could eliminate criteria such as alignment of past administrative experience and years of experience to select leaders for schools with a 50% or greater economically disadvantaged student population. Due to a lack of variance, the researcher could not conclude with certainty that emotional intelligence is a negative or positive factor. However, math/science competence should be given some consideration when a district has a school that is struggling due to math and/or science performance. [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.]