The challenges for secondary schools and principals in the United States include changing demographics, schools and curricula that are inappropriately designed for today's adolescents, principals trained to be managers rather than instructional leaders, and a dramatic shortage of qualified candidates willing to take on the principalship. The challenge of our collective genius is to unveil the treasures within all students in every school. The purpose of this study is twofold: First, this study examines the role of the principal in the implementation of a successful curriculum on the enhancement of the reading achievement of African American middle school students. Secondly, this study investigates the role of the principal in the implementation of effective teaching strategies on the enhancement of reading achievement of African American middle school students. An Ex Post Facto Design and a Survey Design were employed in the study. The Ex Post Facto Design was used to examine the role of the principal (passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive) on the reading test scores and implementation of effective strategies. Furthermore, the Survey Design assessed the attitudes, perceptions, opinions, and behavior of teachers regarding the role of their principal in implementing effective strategies. The sample population consisted of 300 middle school students and 127 middle school teachers from one school district in the southern region of Texas. The data were tested using the One-Way Analysis of Variance and the Scheffe Multiple Comparison Test. There were eleven hypotheses formulated and tested in this study. Of the eleven hypotheses, three were found to be significant. Based on the examination of hypotheses, it was concluded that the total reading scores of middle school students on a standardized test were affected by the role of principal; the implementation of using instructional programs for the struggling learner is an effective strategy in teaching reading to African American middle school students; and the more aggressive principal will implement and promote a vision/philosophy of reading as an effective strategy for teaching reading to African American middle school students. In order to extend the findings of this study, the researcher recommends a follow-up study be conducted using school districts in suburban and rural areas. Such a study would provide additional data on the role of principal on the overall effective school reform movement in America. Additionally, a study should be conducted to ascertain the influence of selected background variables of principals on their implementation of strategies that they perceived as effective teaching methods in improving the academic performance of African American middle school students. [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.]