The high school principalship has been designated an area of professional shortage by many states. Resignations and terminations have been numerous as a result of poor student test performance. The purpose of this ex post facto correlation study was to investigate the self-perceptions of accountability by high school principals as they related to student performance on state tests. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors for motivation, as defined by the motivator-hygiene theory and research on accountability as a motivator informed this study. Existing data from the 2008-2009 Georgia High School Graduation Test were obtained, and principals' perceptions of accountability were collected via a Likert survey of public high school principals in Georgia. Survey responses yielded total scores, internal pressure scores, external pressure scores, and personal responsibility scores. These data sets were analyzed to examine any relationships between and among the principals' perceptions and schools' test passing rates. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients indicated statistically significant results in two subsets (perceptions related to internal pressures and social studies and science passing rates) with low effect size. None of the other relationships related to self-perceptions of principal accountability and schools' test-passing rates were found to be statistically significant. The study findings contribute to social change by informing education practitioners, personnel related to preparation programs, and policy makers of the lack of relationship. A change of direction, with school boards and administrative leaders motivating principals with positive reinforcement to become strong instruction leaders and not punishing them for poor test scores, could spur a return of principals to active duty in the job roles they have cherished and worked so hard to fulfill. [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.]