Research has shown that principal leadership is strongly connected to student achievement and plays a pivotal role in creating schools in which students and staff can achieve successful outcomes. Research has also shown the role of self-efficacy in approaching and completing difficult and challenging tasks. Title I schools include many risk factors that impact student learning, teacher retention, and access to necessary resources. There is limited research on how school principals' efficacy impacts their leadership behaviors in leading a Title I school. Using a basic qualitative interpretive design, I examined 11 principals of Title I schools in Northern Virginia to determine how they perceived their own self-efficacy, the impact of their self-efficacy on their leadership behaviors, how the risk factors associated with leading a Title I school impacted their self-efficacy, and how they conceptualized their leadership efficacy. The conceptual framework used for this study was based on self-efficacy, leadership practices, and transformative and social justice tenets. Based on the data collected, principals perceived that their self-efficacy was at the center of their leadership practices, which included building relationships, working collaboratively with staff, and empowering teachers. Principals developed their self-efficacy through belief of others and personal and work experiences, including vicarious and mastery experiences, and articulated that their belief in themselves was paramount to leading a Title I school. Finally, principals with high self-efficacy were motivated by risk factors associated with student poverty and used transformative leadership to mitigate these factors to create more socially just schools. These principals exhibited moral courage to advance inclusion, access, and opportunity for all and created deep and equitable change. The key findings from this study suggest that principals' behaviors, beliefs, and efficacy were formed and influenced by their personal and professional experiences. Principals often drew upon experiences they had with mentors and role models to influence their self-efficacy and inform their leadership practices. The implications are that these insights might: (1) inform policy in recruitment and placement of principals in Title I schools; (2) impact leadership development practices through professional learning and formal mentor or intern programs for Title I principals; (3) showcase the influence of professional experiences on principals' efficacy; (4) help understand how principals' beliefs and behaviors are influenced by their experiences; and (5) offer strategies to create more equitable and socially just schools. Additional research is needed to connect principals' self-efficacy with high-performing high-poverty schools. [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.]