Data generated from three studies in twenty-two urban secondary schools indicate that the role of the secondary school administrator has been and is undergoing a steady attrition in terms of domain and scope of influence, sources of organizational power, and bases of authority to effectively lead a professionalized organization. One series of investigations dealt with analysis of administrative tasks, one with communication nets and flow of interpersonal influence, and a third with analysis of the authority hierarchy and the relationship of the principal to other authority figures. Since wide variations existing in the role were found to be related to district size, the author suggests as three alternative explanations: (1) the demands and suggestions of the district office personnel, which gave high priority to management matters and required other activities to be handled in an administrative rather than in a supervisory way; (2) principals' preferences by training and experience; and (3) the high degree of stability over time in a school's organizational structure, so that past practices were a significant determinant of the principal's role. The author asserts that the steady attrition of the principal's role and the shift from educational values to educational mechanics show the principal to be threatened from both directions in the hierarchy, that is, by central office staff and by the demands of teacher militancy. (Author/WM)