Attrition of African American teachers which outpaces the effectiveness of existing retention strategies used by principals is a documented issue in U.S. public schools. The problem addressed through this study was that K-8 principals in one midwestern school district were challenged to implement strategies to retain African American teachers. Guided by transformational and distributive leadership theories, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of K-8 school principals in the local setting about the challenges they faced retaining African American teachers and strategies required to increase retention. Five K-8 school principals who had at least one African American teacher in their building participated in semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding to identify themes. Findings indicated that the principals faced barriers to retaining African American K-8 teachers and needed support, had limited awareness of racial challenges affecting African American K-8 teachers, and recognized the importance of retaining African American K-8 teachers in their schools. Based on these findings, a 3-day professional development project for principals was created to promote development of targeted strategies for retaining African American teachers. By building awareness of the unique experiences and needs of African American teachers in midwestern K-8 schools, principals will be better positioned to establish a school culture that openly values diversity and actively fosters African American teacher retention thereby creating positive social change over time. [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.]