To ensure all students, including historically marginalized students, reached their highest capacity, there was a focus on equity in education at the state and national levels. Minimal research existed where researchers explored principals' educational equity mindset, and I found a gap in the literature concerning the use of principals' educational equity mindset to address the challenges in rural schools. Due to the lack of research, I examined equity through the exploration of principals' educational equity mindset and how it influenced their decisions on challenges in rural Tennessee schools through a qualitative multi-site case study. Twenty head principals from elementary, middle, and high schools in rural Tennessee completed a questionnaire that addressed three research questions. I found all 20 principals held educational equity mindset attributes to various extents. Nine out of 20 principals reported at least one reason for becoming a principal that included an educational equity attribute. Principals used the educational equity attribute of collaborative leadership most to address challenges in their rural schools. In addition, seven challenges related to rural schools emerged: teacher attitudes, behavior, staffing, poverty, engagement, funding, and achievement. Principals addressed the challenges using four out of six educational equity mindset attributes: collaborative leadership, evidence-based decision making, instructional leadership, and organizational culture and climate. Exploring principals' educational equity mindsets and how those mindsets were used to address challenges in rural Tennessee schools can support actions that lead to all students reaching their highest potential. [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.]