School leaders face high expectations from society for leadership effectiveness. While it is commonly accepted that leadership practices contribute to school excellence, specific behaviors of effective elementary principals in the local context were not well understood. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate self-reported leadership practices of school leaders by identifying characteristics of 10 highly effective elementary principals in a metropolitan school district. The theoretical framework for this study was based upon James Burns' work associated with leadership actions, behaviors, and practices which influenced leadership effectiveness. Research questions compared transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire behaviors of participants. The research design was a mixed methods concurrent nested strategy approach. Key transformational leadership behaviors were identified through the use of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and data were quantified through descriptive statistics. Insights into leadership development and effectiveness were gathered through semistructured interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis of common themes and an open coding process of interview responses. Findings indicated transformational practices resulted in academic success of students and attributed to leader effectiveness. Recommendations suggested the need to present professional learning experiences and training programs for all school leaders. Implications for positive social change includes implementing leadership development programs that increase school leaders transformational leadership practices, thus, impacting teachers' instruction and students' 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.]