Effective principals have a positive impact on students' achievement through teacher supervision, curriculum implementation, and student discipline. Therefore, schools need principals with strong instructional leadership skills to address school improvement measures. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the current leadership behaviors of principals who foster student academic improvement in Baltimore City Public Schools, by examining archival data via school evaluations from School Effectiveness Reviews and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career scores. The conceptual framework of this study is the Transformational Leadership Framework, which is founded on five categories that schools focus on to improve and maintain student performance; learning and teaching, school culture, talent management, operations and planning, and personal leadership. The researcher applied a methodological path that began with a detailed literature review, and a central research question to determine the overall leadership strategies of school principals, and two sub-questions to focus on how principals' leadership strategies supported academic achievement and teaching and learning. Using a sample of six Elementary/Middle schools considered highly effective/effective based on their School Effectiveness Review, data were collected and interpreted into general themes and separated into appropriate categories. For the six schools studied, leadership strategies for principals included; ensuring teachers were involved in planning the curricula, demonstrating an understanding of data analysis, implementing a structure that recruited and retained effective teachers, creating induction programs for new hire, establishing school-wide growth goals, and allocating resources to address student growth, and achievement. School principals supported student achievement by ensuring teachers implemented lesson plans, monitoring classroom instruction for rigor and differentiation, ensuring teachers use multiple data sources to adjust practice and analyze student progress, and promoting a clear instructional vision. In addition, principals supported teaching and learning by supporting teachers in planning and delivering effective instruction, partnering with outside agencies, promoting a clear instructional vision, conducting informal observation and providing feedback to teachers, creating organizational and staffing structure to support students, and providing safe and supportive environments. It is recommended that school districts review the findings of this study for the purpose of training and supporting school principals. [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.]