This study was a descriptive-analytical survey of middle school principals' and full-time middle school teachers' responses to the Survey of Instructional Leadership Behavior (SILB). The study was undertaken to determine whether significant differences existed between the respondents in terms of their perceptions of the"actual" instructional leadership behavior and the"expected" instructional leadership behavior of middle school principals in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia. Attention was given also to examining the relationship between selected demographic characteristics such as the sex, age, ethnic group, experience, educational background, and annual salary on the respondents and their perceptions of the middle school principals' instructional leadership behavior. The subjects for this study were identified from three governmental localities to make up a representative group of middle school principals, as well as full-time middle school teachers in the Richmond (Virginia) Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). Of the 532 who participated in the study, 391 (73%) were determined usable responses. Of this number, 11 of the responses were middle school principals and 380 were full-time middle school teachers. Five main hypotheses were developed and tested in order to guide the study: (1) There is no significant difference between the"actual" instructional leadership behavior of the principal as perceived by middle school principals when compared to the perceptions of full-time middle school teachers in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia; (2) There is no significant difference between the"expected" instructional leadership behavior of the principal as perceived by middle school principals when compared to the perceptions of full-time middle school teachers in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia; (3) There is no significant difference between the"actual" instructional leadership behavior and the"expected" instructional leadership behavior of the principal as perceived by middle school principals in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia; (4) There is no significant difference between the"actual" instructional leadership behavior and the"expected" instructional leadership behavior of the principal as perceived by full-time middle school teachers in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia; and (5) There is no significant relationship between each of the demographic characteristics of the respondents and their perceptions of the"actual" instructional leadership behavior and the"expected" instructional leadership behavior of the middle school principals in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia. Each hypothesis presented in this study was tested at the .05 level of significance to determine which should be accepted and which should be rejected. Hypotheses 1 and 2 were tested using independent t-test values. Hypotheses 3 and 4 were tested using dependent t-test values. Hypothesis 5 was tested by conducting a multiway analysis of variance using all demographic data as independent variables. Of the five hypotheses presented, one was accepted (Hypothesis 1), three were rejected (Hypotheses 2, 3, and 4), and one was rejected in part (Hypothesis 5). The following conclusions are based on the findings of the study: (1) Middle school principals and teachers were in general agreement relative to their perceptions of the 0 actual" instructional leadership behavior of middle school principals in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia. Although there was agreement, middle school principals' perceptions of their actual behavior are higher than the teachers' perceptions; (2) Middle school principals' perceptions of their"expected" instructional leadership behavior were significantly higher than the teachers' perceptions of how the principals were expected to behave; (3) Middle school principals' perceptions of their"expected" instructional leadership behavior were significantly higher than the middle school principals' perceptions of their"actual" instructional leadership behavior; (4) Middle school teachers' perceptions of their principals'"expected" instructional leadership behavior were significantly higher than their perceptions of the principals'"actual" instructional leadership behavior; (5) Sex, age, ethnic group, experience, number of years assigned to the school, degrees, and annual salary had no influence on the middle school principals' perceptions of their"actual" instructional leadership behavior nor their"expected" instructional leadership behavior; (6) Although sex, age, number of years assigned to the school, experience, and annual salary had no influence on middle school teachers' perceptions of the principals'"actual" instructional leadership behavior, the ethnic background tends to have some influence. Furthermore, the specific interaction between the number of years teachers were assigned to the school and the degrees held tended to influence their perceptions of the principals' actual behavior; and (7) Although sex, age, ethnic group, number of years assigned to the school, degrees and annual salary had no influence on middle school teachers' perceptions of the principals'"expected" instructional leadership behavior, the experience of the teacher tends to have significant influence. Furthermore, the specific interaction between the ethnic background of the teachers and the degrees held had a significant influence on their perceptions of the principals' expected behavior. / Ed. D.