Modern school leaders may fed uncertainty in their feelings of satisfaction given the complex and changing nature of the principalship. Reforms in administrative preparation and training programs attempt to provide professional growth experiences that address evolving administrative expectations while universities and school districts strive to provide authentic and meaningful professional development. This study describes job satisfaction of urban school administrators and the mediating effects of professional growth experiences. A mixed-methods research approach collected data via a Web-based survey then employed semi-structured interviews of focus groups to gather exploratory data of the contextualization of job satisfaction and professional growth experiences of urban school administrators. Findings indicate urban school administrators experience increases in overall job satisfaction, six of seven job satisfaction domains measured in this study, and twenty of twenty-six job satisfaction components. Increased job satisfaction was found among respondents identifying themselves as African American, working in schools receiving Title 1 funding, and reporting the least years experience teaching. Assistant principals with the least years experience in their current role also reported significantly greater satisfaction. Respondents reported a decrease in job satisfaction in only one category of job satisfaction, "time commitment." Professional growth experiences were grounded in the experiential construction of responses by focus-group participants and were investigated across three exploratory themes: administrative preparation, administrative selection, and administrative professional development. Seven categories of professional growth experiences emerged: "networking," "mentor relationships," "on-the-job training," "sense of validation," "sense of elimination," "visiting other schools," and "problem solving with colleagues." The mediating effects of professional growth experiences on job satisfaction findings are discussed by linking these two areas of interest by the emergent themes "professional growth relationships" and "emotionally-supportive growth relationships." [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.]