Perceived self-efficacy is an important aspect that educational leaders must possess to be successful in the public-school setting. Constant changes in legislation require principals to have high levels of self-efficacy to perform their duties as administrators. Principal preparedness programs have failed to completely prepare candidates to be successful in their new roles as administrators. This study examined principals' perceived self-efficacy and posed questions to the participants designed to ascertain ways to better serve new principals. The participants for the study were from various school districts in Central, Western, and Southwestern Texas. A concurrent mixed methods design was used in this study to collect quantitative data from participants using a self-efficacy scale and qualitative data collected from an open-ended questionnaire regarding principal preparation and early career experiences of participating principals. The information collected within the study would suggest that indeed principal preparedness programs do not fully prepare candidates to be self-efficacious as new principals in the educational field. The discussion is concluded with suggestions for future practice that need to be addressed with principal preparedness programs. [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.]