Ethical violations in education exist worldwide. Superintendents of schools are in the unique position of exerting their authority and influence on the entire community. They also contend with ethically challenging situations. The purpose of the study is to determine the extent to which superintendents are influenced more by their experiences versus their training in ethical standards when ethically challenging situations confront them. In response to ethical issues that have occurred in education, academic institutions and districts have attempted to rectify the issue by further training and practices. This study determined that existing superintendents in New York utilize their own experiences and ethics over relying on one of several codes of ethics or their administrative certifications program training when confronted with ethically challenging situations. A phenomenological study was conducted utilizing an adaption of the "Ethical Awareness Inventory" to determine the feelings and sentiments of current superintendents toward ethics when presented with ethically challenging situations. [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://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]