In response to federal accountability measures, the Pennsylvania Department of Education introduced the School Performance Profile, shifting the student achievement spotlight from school districts to individual schools, thus placing the onus squarely on the shoulders of teachers and school leaders. Shared leadership has been touted in the literature as a means to enhance student achievement, as principals cannot realistically perform the managerial and instructional leadership role alone. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to examine and explain the perceptions of urban elementary school principals and teachers with regard to the impact of federal and state mandates on sharing the leadership role. Research participants included six principals and 20 teachers. A grounded theory approach was utilized to explore and explain the research topic. Core categories of Accountability, Shared Leadership or Top Down, and It's For the Kids emerged. Results indicated that principals view improving standardized test scores as best for kids, but many teachers do not. Teachers believe they should make instructional decisions regarding students, but feel they cannot due to mandates around standardized testing. Enhanced principal interaction with teachers who do not participate in building leadership teams could facilitate communication and mutual trust, assisting teachers and principals in making connections regarding what's best for students. This interaction may also support the development of teacher leadership potential and school leadership capacity. Future research investigating the impact on the principal teacher relationship dynamic could be valuable. [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://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]