The purpose of this study was to examine the leadership practices perceived by nursing education leaders as measured by the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). The framework used was a contemporary transformational leadership model described in "The Leadership Challenge" ("4th ed.") by Dr. James Kouzes and Dr. Barry Posner, which identifies the exemplary practices of leadership as modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart. This study was a quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational design that collected data using the LPI and a demographic questionnaire. The study participants consisted of nursing education leaders identified by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission in prelicensure nursing programs in the United States. Participants completed the LPI and a demographic questionnaire. There were a total of 242 participants (31% response rate) with the majority of participants employed in 2-year public institutions, associate's degree programs, and who indicated being over the age of 50, having 30+ years experience in nursing education, and having less than 10 years in their current leadership role. Almost all participants (92.6%) reported having participated in professional development related to leadership during the course of their careers. As evidenced by the data, research findings indicated that nursing education leaders perceive themselves as engaging in behaviors consistent with the five practices of exemplary leadership and significantly engaged in the five practices greater than the reported norms. The area most frequently engaged in practice was enabling others to act. The area reported as being least participated in was inspiring a shared vision. Differences were not found among the demographic factors of age, years of experience, type of nursing program responsible for, or type of institution. Significance was noted with regard to the academic preparation and even more so the professional development in leadership of participants and the leadership practices. On review of the available literature and results of this research, the use of transformational leadership as the foundation for developing effective nursing education leaders for the 21st century was discussed. [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.]