Effective leadership appears to be an element of a successful school, but few studies have covered either leadership in small and rural schools or effective schools with the ethnic mix of Anglo, Hispanic, and Native American students. This study's population consisted of the 24 New Mexico rural public elementary schools having an enrollment of 500 or fewer students and a principal who had been at the school for more than one year. Hispanics and Native Americans comprised, on average, 37.1% and 2.3%, respectively, of student enrollments. The principals and eighth grade teachers of each school rated the principals on participation, role clarification, supervision, and charismatic leadership. A multiple stepwise regression analysis tested the effect of principal leadership qualities, student socioeconomic status, and student ethnicity on eighth grade student scores on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS). Student socioeconomic status was related to CTBS scores, but ethnicity was not. The teachers' perception of the principal's role clarification was negatively related to CTBS scores, and their perception of his charismatic leadership was positively related. No other teacher ratings or principal self-ratings were significant variables. The paper includes five statistical tables and 18 references. (SV)