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Abstract
The study examined the perspectives of two new principals and the mentoring they received from their former principals. The researcher sought to uncover the kinds of support the principals provided to the participants, two elementary school principals from a large district in Georgia, to determine how this assistance prepared them for the principalship. Data were obtained from interviews with the principals and the data were then analyzed using the constant comparative method. The data obtained from each case were analyzed individually and then across cases in which the following common themes emerged: 1) A sense of empowerment was derived from the mentoring experience, 2) Practical experiences from the mentoring experience were important to the assistant principals when they assumed the principalship, 3) A sense of trust emerged in the mentoring relationship. Findings indicated that the mentoring relationship between the assistant principal and the principal was an important factor in the preparation of these principals before they assumed the position of the principalship. Practical experiences during the mentoring experiences enabled the principals to make a better transition into the principalship.