Recent research illustrates the increasingly important role of the school principal. As a result, procedures for selecting principals have also become more critical to rural school districts. School systems, particularly rural school districts, are encouraged to adopt systematic, rational means for selecting administrators. Such procedures will enable superintendents and school boards to make valid, objective decisions when selecting future principals. This paper describes a model for a selection procedure that uses job descriptions, advertisements, candidate assessment measures and techniques, interviews, and reference checks to select the most qualified candidates for principalships. Use of an objective, written measure for assessment can identify personal and professional strengths and weaknesses. Relying on local perceptions of "fit" may be discriminatory and may produce inbreeding and stagnation of educational programs. Several rural school systems in Kentucky have implemented this alternative model, and preliminary results indicate the process works. Potential principals are given a renewed sense of personal integrity in the selection process. Those making the selections indicate candidates are better prepared for the realities of the job. The process does require considerable time and planning. This paper contains 45 references. (DHP)