The primary purpose of this study was to determine if there were commonalities in the approaches of 10 elementary school principals in the state of Florida identified as "success stories" in leading reading improvement in their schools in 2002, shortly after enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act at the national level and the Just Read, Florida! initiative at the state level. A secondary purpose of this study was to determine the principals' levels of readiness for self-directed learning. Several commonalities were noted, and in a qualitative analysis of selected interview questions, five major themes emerged: Philosophical Framework, Human Resources, Programs/Strategies, Use of Data, and Use of Federal and State Initiatives and Information. On the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, the principals' scores were exceptionally high, comparable with those of the top entrepreneurs in the United States. The conclusion of this study centers on the identification of these exemplar principals as "educational entrepreneurs" who employ innovation, teacher empowerment, shared leadership, and reliance upon data to lead reading improvement in their schools. (Contains 1 table.)