The nation's K-12 schools are faced with critical challenges: elevating academic achievement, recruiting high-caliber teachers, engaging parental involvement and at-risk students. The national and global economic crisis has significantly compounded these challenges (Fullan, 2002; McEwan, 2003; Kowalski, 2008). School leaders are mandated by "No Child Left Behind (2001)" and state standards to be highly-effective instructional and operational leaders (Kowalski, 2008). The vast responsibilities and challenges have created complex and unprecedented pressures for principals. In addition, teachers have insurmountable responsibilities that affect their overall morale. They include demands from federal, state, and local policies; lack of parental and administrative support; formal testing; discipline issues; instructional reform; all of which affect teacher morale. With the merging of these elements, they have an adverse affect on school performance. According to the Georgia Department of Education, 19 out of 34 elementary schools in Metropolitan Georgia school district did not meet its 2010-2011 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) (Georgia Department of Education, 2010). State-mandated testing as required by the NCLB has placed added pressure and stress on teachers to ensure progress on student learning. Principals and teachers are affected by the published reports of their schools' academic progress. The purpose of this study was to investigate school leadership practices that affect teacher morale and school performance. The results of this study provided valuable data sets for school leaders and graduate-level programs. The study engendered a major contribution on the influence of leadership practices on teacher morale and school performance. Four research questions were addressed in this study: 1). Is there a significant relationship between leadership practices and teacher morale? 2). What is the relationship between leadership practices and teacher morale in low performing and high-performing schools? 3). Is there a significant difference in leadership practices between low and high-performing schools? 4). Is there a significant difference in teacher morale between low and high-performing schools? A survey instrument developed by a researcher was used with permission. The participants were 30 teachers from two-high performing elementary schools that did meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2010-2011 and 30 teachers from two low-performing elementary schools that did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2010-2011. The schools had similar students and demographics. The researcher employed a quantitative approach using a Casual Comparative Research Design to complete and analyze the results of the study. The survey instrument consisted of a 5-point Likert scale. Results showed that there is a positive relationship (r = 0.842) between the teachers' perception of principal leadership practices and teacher morale. This same relationship was true for each type of school (r = 0.727 for low performing and r = 0.714 for high performing). More desirable principal leadership practices were perceived by the teachers in high-performing schools (M = 4.3, agreement) than in low-performing schools (M = 3.1, undecided). Teacher morale was higher in high-performing schools (M = 4.3, agreement) than in low-performing schools (M = 2.8, undecided). [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]