School principals play an instrumental role in the day-to-day running of schools, and their roles become more critical at times of education reform. The Saudi Ministry of Education (MoE) has been working towards a more decentralized system, whereby school principals have more autonomy. Under the Development Project (Tatweer) launched in 2007, school leadership was granted more authority. Nonetheless, they remained under continuous pressure due to an imbalance between their responsibilities and authority. Research shows a gap between the MoE's vision and the reality in schools. Reason may vary from the disconnection between policy and implementation to lack of essential training for those who are supposed to carry out the new plans, including principals. With the announcement of the Saudi Vision 2030 in 2016, the Saudi Leadership reshaped its policies to achieve the Vision's goals. In 2021, the Ministry of Education announced the Developed Study Plans (DSP). To gain an understanding of the principals' readiness to implement the DSP, the present study investigates the experiences of six Saudi high-school female principals. The study utilizes the Self-Determination Theory to evaluate the principals' satisfaction of the three needs that the SDT proposes are necessary for a person to become intrinsically motivated. Unless those principals feel competent, autonomous, and can relate to the MoE and its policies and plans, the successful implementation of education reform is not likely to happen. [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.]