The purpose of this study was to examine principal evaluation procedures and the actual practices in use for evaluating school principals in the K-12 school districts of Iowa. Specifically, the study (1) described principal evaluation practices and formal written procedures currently in place in the K-12 school districts in Iowa, (2) compared these practices and procedures with the current recommendations found in literature, (3) compared those procedures and practices as they relate to the size of the school districts, and (4) made recommendations that should prove helpful in the development of more valid principal evaluation practices and procedures for the K-12 school districts in the state of Iowa;Data for the study were collected from the school districts of Iowa in two ways. A questionnaire was sent to a randomly-selected principal in each of the 433 K-12 school districts in the state and written policy and procedures were collected from the school districts;The findings indicated that there is a need for updating principal evaluation policy and procedures in many of the public K-12 school districts in the state of Iowa. Many districts did not have written procedures for principal evaluation. Principals were generally satisfied with the evaluation practice in their school districts. Only a handful of school districts' evaluation procedures included the essential elements of effective principal evaluation procedures as found in the literature. Continual training and staff development opportunities must be made available for superintendents and other central office administrators in order to improve the principal evaluation practices in the K-12 school districts in the state of Iowa. Finally, it was recommended that the Department of Education monitor more closely the evaluation practices in the K-12 school districts of Iowa to ensure that the actual practices in use for principal evaluation are consistent with the districts' policies and procedures that are in place.