The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how charter school administrators describe their leadership preparation in the areas of moral, instructional, managerial, social and political dimensions during their first five years in an independent charter school administrative position in Southern California. Greenfield's (1995) theory of school administration was used to underpin this study. This study asked three research questions regarding how charter school administrators describe their leadership preparation in terms of (1) the five dimensions leading a charter school, (2) leadership preparation specific to the instructional and managerial duties and (3) leadership readiness specific to moral, social and political aspects of leading a school. This study selected charter school administrators from southern California. The sampling used was convenient as participants were all current charter school administrators from the same geographic area and were able to participate. The protocol developed for this study included semi-structured individual interviews and focus group interviews. The six-steps of thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke were used to analyze the data into codes. Eight themes emerged from the data; Leader training and development; Leaders vision for charter schools; Curriculum and instruction; Student assessment; Professional networking; Readiness of charter school administrators; Role of politics in charter schools; and Ethics in school administration. These themes address the preparation areas of charter school administration and how they impacted the overall leadership development. The results of the study suggest that a preparation gap exists for charter school administrators in specific areas. [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.]