This edited book highlights the importance and complexity of the assistant principalship. As noted in all the chapters, the assistant principal is a critical partner in creating a professional learning community that serves all students well. Often neglected or ignored in the literature, assistant principals are more than disciplinarians and student or building managers. In the best of all worlds, they provide the professional support and partnership with their principals to create high-performing schools. Unfortunately, as noted in some of the chapters, the ideal and actual roles that assistant principals exercise often create a gap that seethes with disillusionment and dissatisfaction. The challenge for the profession is to better align the roles and expectations of assistant principals so that they can experience the best of being a school leader. This book begins with an introduction by Alan R. Shoho, Bruce G. Barnett, and Autumn K. Tooms. It includes: (1) Factors that Influence the Preparedness of Teachers for the Vice-Principal Role (Suzanne P. Read); (2) Critical Advice from Practicing Assistant Principals for Assistant Principal Preparation Programs (Steven D. Busch, Angus J. MacNeil, and M. Sarah Baraniuk); (3) Assistant Principals in Hong Kong: Their Responsibility, Role Alignments, and Job Satisfaction (Paula Kwan and Allan Walker); (4) Challenges to School Leadership Practice: Examining the Assistant Principalship (Deputy Headship) in the United States, UK, and China (Teri Denlea Melton, Barbara J. Mallory, Russell Mays, and Lucindia Chance); (5) The New Urgency of Vice-Principalship: Ethical Decision Making (Heather Rintoul); (6) The Quiet Roar: Assistant Principals Leading for Social Justice (Christa Boske and Lillian Benavente-McEnery); and (7) Sharing Instructional Leadership as Assistant Principals in an Accountability-Oriented Environment (Anna Sun).