Principals in the United States are faced with challenging and complex roles as the leaders of our schools. Levels of district, state, and federal mandates and accountability measures coupled with the demands of supporting students, parents, and teachers on a multitude of levels create a job that is almost impossible to keep up with. In addition, limited fiscal and human resources create a barrier to meeting the needs of these expectations in almost every school. There is a significant number of principals in the nation that have made the decision to abandon the principalship, with an increased number leaving schools of high poverty, creating an issue where the highest need schools have the greatest instability. The working conditions for principals including salary, workload, and school climate are top on the list of reasons for principal turnover. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to investigate the ways in which superintendents of high-poverty school districts support their principals through policies and practices at the local level and influence working conditions to impact job satisfaction. The study explores the policies and practices that superintendents perceive have impacted specifically those principals who have chosen to stay in their role as leaders of high-poverty schools. These superintendents have principals with five or more years in their role working under the policies and practices in the school district which they serve. The perception of what policies and procedures have contributed to their retention is explored in this study through the eyes of superintendents. In addition, the study investigates the opportunities and barriers superintendents face in creating job satisfaction for the principals of the high poverty-schools in their district. [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.]