The purpose of this paper is to present select findings from a case study of a single suburban middle school. The purpose of the investigation was to explore and describe teachers' and students' perceptions of the caring leadership practices that seventh grade teachers used in their classrooms and the differences between those perceptions. The seven leadership practices of Kouzes and Posner's (2003) theory of "encouraging the heart" served as the conceptual framework. Data were collected using in-person interviews with 10 seventh grade teachers and two focus groups with 15 of their students. Both teachers and students reported that teachers mainly set and modeled behavioral standards, which were focused on students assuming responsibility for their own learning and demonstrating self-control. Neither group of participants described specific instances of the teachers setting academic standards or content-based goals. Implications for future research are offered. (Contains 1 table.)