In this age of accountability, student achievement is the highest priority where schools and school districts are rated accordingly. Since school principals affect student achievement and accountability ratings, it was necessary to investigate what knowledge, skills, and dispositions principals need to have in order to lead their schools to success. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine superintendents' perceptions of what knowledge, skills, and dispositions are needed for a principal to lead a school to meet state accountability standards as well as what factors impact superintendents' hiring decisions when hiring principals. The research answered the following questions: What knowledge, skills, and dispositions do superintendents perceive are needed in a principal in order to meet state accountability standards? What factors impact superintendents' decisions when hiring principals to lead schools to meet state accountability standards? How do superintendents' perceptions differ based on their school districts' ratings? Twenty-one Texas superintendents from academically unacceptable and exemplary rated schools were interviewed. A grounded theory was developed that explains how superintendents were experiencing a shared situation such as TEA ratings. Superintendents from academically unacceptable and exemplary districts identified similar characteristics needed in principals to lead successful schools. However, due to the challenging populations in academically unacceptable districts, principals have to tend to students' needs beyond education. Superintendents in this study identified interpersonal skills as the key characteristic principals needed. When hiring a school principal, superintendents said they were most interested in the experience of principal candidates rather than how they earned their certification. The most important skill superintendents discussed was interpersonal skills. The superintendents recommended that principal preparation programs offer more real-life and on-the-job experiences for participants. This study adds knowledge to the field of educational leadership by qualitatively examining the connection between superintendents' perceptions of knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed in principals and what characteristics principal preparation programs need to develop.