This volume brings together the findings from Volumes 1 and 2 of this series on the senior high school principalship and speculates about them in terms of the principal and the principalship today and the changes likely to occur in the future. The report begins with a presentation of the central findings of the national random sample survey of senior high school principals concerning principal characteristics, beliefs, preparation, career routes, and the principal's job and the high school. It then presents central findings from the effective principals study concerning job conditions, approach to the job, personal and professional characteristics, and effectiveness. These two studies and two additional investigations derived from the data provide a profile of the high school principal today. Because of the significant differences found between nonpublic school principals and their colleagues in public schools, a chapter is devoted to characteristics of the nonpublic school principal. Future forces and conditions surrounding the principalship are then discussed, including political and legal factors, economic factors, social factors, technological factors, and educational factors. The final chapter discusses the future principalship, including personal and professional factors, the principal's job, and preparation and selection of principals. (Author/JM)