This study was designed to determine which factors relating to leader behaviors contribute most to high student achievement in urban innercity high schools. The measures of leader effectiveness used in this investigation were those ratings taken from instruments developed by the New York School Improvement Project, the National Study of School Evaluation, The Northwest Area Foundation's School Improvement Project and a study of Principals' Performances in High Priority Competency Areas, University of Texas; Both descriptive and inferential procedures were used to analyze data from the responses of superintendents, principals, teachers, students and parents from six St. Louis innercity high schools. The chi-square test for independence and the t-test for comparisons were used to determine if there were any significant differences between the leader behaviors of principals from schools classified as "improving achievement" and "maintaining/declining achievement";The descriptive findings revealed that generally leader behaviors were not related to higher student achievement. It was determined, however, using the chi-square test for independence, that teacher satisfaction and the expectation that all students can master the basic objectives were associated with the leader behavior of the principal;The inferential findings revealed that with two exceptions, all of the priority and principals' performance items rated by the teachers, principals, and superintendents, in schools classified as "improving achievement" and "maintaining/declining achievement" were approximately the same. The findings revealed that, in the two exceptional cases, superintendents of schools classified as "improving achievement" believed that their principals should spend less time providing materials, equipment and facilities than their counterparts from schools classified as "maintaining/declining achievement". The principals of schools classified as "improving achievement" were in closer agreement between their priorities and performances in allocating time and space than their counterparts from schools classified as "maintaining/declining achievement". The six principals involved in this study from the St. Louis Public School System were found to have generally the same instructional leadership profile.