Throughout the United States school principals are subject to increasingly high demands for student accountability. Under the pressures and mandates of this federal legislation, principals are asking themselves what specific leadership practices affect student achievement. A review of literature shows that principals are regarded as a major factor in accounting for differences in academic success of students. Effective leadership is viewed as the catalyst for school change, student growth, teacher attrition, and the culture within the school. In addition, the literature indicates that certain school leadership practices and school culture have been found to impact student achievement. This quantitative correlational capstone study was designed to determine if a relationship exists between principal behaviors, school culture, and student achievement. Key research questions the researcher used to guide this capstone research study include the following: 1. Is there a relationship between principal ratings on Standard 3: Cultural Leadership (McRel Evaluation for School Executives) and student achievement? 2. Are there relationships among selected school demographics, principal demographics, and principal ratings on Standard 3: Cultural Leadership? 3. Is there a relationship between specific principal behaviors, school culture, and positive student outcomes? The quantitative research design investigated the correlation between specific principal behaviors, school culture and student achievement. The principal behaviors were quantified using the McRel Principal Evaluation. The teacher perceptions of school culture and school leadership were quantified from the state-wide Teacher Worker Conditions Survey, and the student achievement results were quantified by the End-of-Grade and End-of-Course test results. For each research question descriptive and inferential statistics analyses tests were utilized. Findings from the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient determined that there was a strong positive correlation among each of the four cultural leadership behaviors (a) Focus on Collaborative Work Environment, (b) Efficacy and Empowerment, (c) School Culture, and (d) Acknowledges Failures and Celebrates Accomplishment and student proficiency on the End-of-Grade and End-of-Course tests. Another strong correlation was between the overall Cultural Leadership ratings from the principal evaluation and student proficiency. There was a weak or no correlation between teacher perceptions of school culture and principal behaviors. Principals' behaviors and practices can have a positive or negative impact on school culture and student achievement. Knowing the powerful influence that a principal can make on culture and student achievement within a school, it is important to consider how a school district can invest in the development of cultural leadership. As a district strives to build the capacity of school principals and assistant principals in cultural leadership, it is suggested by this researcher to create opportunities for principals and district office evaluators to use the new principal evaluation as a means to communicate and engage in a better understanding of cultural leadership. [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.]