At the turn of the century, a school leadership crisis emerged with school districts facing high turnover and a lack of replacements, as well as available new hires with the requisite skills, knowledge, and experience necessary to succeed in leading a school (Gates et al., 2003). School principals play a key role in student success and principal preparation programs are developed to provide the foundational skills to be an effective school leader. Davis et al. (2012) added that an increased number of preparation programs are beginning to place more emphasis on the qualities of activities of the fieldwork experiences and the state accreditation standards. Through the triangulation and analysis of three data sources: fieldwork logs, survey/daily logs, and semi-structured interviews, this phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of acting assistant principals and principals who completed the fieldwork component of their principal preparation program. The results of the study showed that although the participants' shared experiences varied, the pre-service and in-service activities were similar, but overall, the fieldwork experience did not provide the most effective leadership development. [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.]