The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effect of the yearly principal attrition rate on the state accountability ratings of 144 traditional public high schools in Mississippi from 2015-2019 and the proficiency rate of high school students in Mississippi in mathematics, reading, science, and history as evidenced on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program End-of-the Course Assessments from 2015 to 2019. The study examines these factors using the accountability formula in Mississippi under the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. The schools were ranked by their letter and numerical rating according to the Mississippi Accountability System for each year. Next, the proficiency rating of each school in Algebra I, Biology I, English II, and U.S. History was compiled. The third step was identifying the names of the principals at each school from 2015 to 2019 indicating any principal attrition. Each research question was tested using in the Pearson r correlation with an alpha level of 0.5. Linear regression with a confidence interval of 95% was used to predict variance. There were correlations found in this study, but they were weak to negligible based upon the results of the statistical measures. The data supported a significant relationship between principal attrition and the school accountability ratings in 2016-2017. This study found the relationship between the yearly principal attrition rates to be statistically significant in mathematics for all years except 2015-2016. In reading, it was found that only during the 2016-2017 school year that there was a significant relationship between the yearly principal attrition rate and the proficiency rate. As it relates to science and history, it was found to be a significant relationship in history between yearly principal attrition and proficiency in history in 2016-2017. In 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, the study revealed a significant relationship between yearly principal attrition and proficiency in science. [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.]