Using ethnographic data, this study explores the behavior of urban principals at work. The event analysis summary (appended) was based on Mintzberg's classification of on-the-job characteristics and role behavior and then modified to reflect the data obtained. "Key incidents" rather than case studies serve as the basis for organizing descriptive analysis. The ethnographic method is revealed to provide insights into the underlying relationships of surface events when a subject's presentation of self ceases to become a performance, when someone breaks a norm and others react, or when a portion of the observed structure changes or malfunctions. In the progress of the study, the researchers discovered new dimensions being added to the principal's role as a result of unionization and community group pressure. In addition, the researchers found that the implementation of legislation concerning desegregation and handicapped children, the institution of a mastery learning-based curriculum, and the centralization of school administration have significantly altered the principal's role and behavior. Plans for further research include an analysis of principals' views of their new roles and the skills and increased paperwork required of them. (WD)