The central purpose of this study was to determine if a selected group of principals made ethical decisions through the processes outlined in James Rest's Four Component Model of Moral Behavior. The four components of the theory are moral sensitivity, moral motivation, moral judgment, and moral character. Selected demographics were also tested;This investigation was a descriptive design using a mixed methodological approach of survey research and interviews of selected respondents. The sample included 104 MetLife/NASSP State Principals of the Year for 1999 and 1998. Of those 104 principals, 63 responded. Conducted in the spring/summer of 2000, ethical narratives in a survey format and telephone interviews were used to gather data;The majority of respondents chose correct action choices which reflected selected dispositions under Standard 5 of the ISLLC Standards. For Narratives 1, 2, and 3, the correct response rate for action choices was 65.1%, 73%, and 93.7%, respectively. In addition, more correct justifications were selected for Narrative 3 than for Narratives 1 and 2. Statistical significance was found with years of experience in Narrative 3 only. No statistical significance among the three narratives for action choices and justifications was found in regard to gender, years of experience (in Narratives 1 and 2), ethics training, or building enrollments;Four themes emerged from the interviews: courage, a philosophy of the common good, gut feelings, and difficulty defining ethics. Courage emerged as a key component to many decisions with gut feelings as a validation that the decision made was the right one. A philosophy of the common good was the moral foundation. Each had difficulty articulating a definition for ethics. Despite this difficulty, all agreed ethics was essential to the job. A difference between the principals who had a high number of correct justifications and those with a low number of correct justifications emerged in varying levels of judgment as found in Kohlberg's theory of Moral Judgment. Within this portion of the study, each component of Rest's theory was validated as being critical to ethical decision making.