Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch released its 2025 Principal Leadership Awards (PLA) Roundtable Summary, which discusses the strategies, leadership techniques, insights, and challenges of effective principal leadership. The award-winning participants discussed 1) Attracting, developing, and retaining high-quality teachers; 2) Building a productive school culture; 3) Building relationships with stakeholders beyond the campus; and 4) Managing time and personnel.
Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic M. Calabro said, “Research has consistently shown that, next to teachers, principals have the most significant impact on student academic achievement when it comes to in-school factors. Having an effective principal has the same impact as a student having an additional three months of learning per year. There is significant evidence that great principals are the primary reason our schools secure and retain those great teachers. Florida TaxWatch is proud to provide these best practices and key takeaways for policymakers and education professionals.”
Florida TaxWatch Executive Vice President and General Counsel Jeff Kottkamp said, “The principal’s role as a school’s leader is to provide a learning environment that delivers a world class education for all students. Effective principals can transform low performing schools into exceptional schools with high student achievement levels. As Florida competes in the global knowledge-based economy and seeks the highest quality of life for its residents, placing the right leadership in schools is important for the continued advancement of our students and our schools.”
The greater the challenge, the greater the impact an effective principal can have on student learning; however, high quality principals have a direct and compelling impact on securing, nurturing, and retaining great teachers. There are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without intervention by an impactful leader.
Attracting and Retaining High- Quality Teachers – Nationwide, states are struggling to hire, develop, and retain teachers. In 2024, Florida ranked 50th nationwide in teacher pay. Over the last several decades, salaries for teachers have decreased by 15.7 percent when adjusted for inflation, despite recent investments in raising teacher pay. At the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, teacher vacancy rates were at 64 percent across the state. Furthermore, a recent report from the Florida Department of Education shows a 9.8 percent decrease in people completing a teacher-education program during 2022-23. Consistent with previous years, Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teachers have the highest percentage of courses taught by out-of-field teachers. During the 2023-24 school year, the average teacher salary in Florida was $54,875 and even with the 3.26 percent increase from the previous year, compensation and salaries remain a challenge with rising inflation and cost of living expenses.
Developing Teachers – Research reveals that principals are most effective when they focus on educational instruction improvement, share decision-making with teachers, and encourage teachers to work collaboratively toward common goals that increase educational outcomes. This collaboration shows improvement in teacher efficiency, positive school cultures, and positive relationships between students, teachers, and administrators. Effective principals set the vision and initiate the leadership of teachers, which provide a sense of ownership and investment to the school’s direction.
Building Relationships with Stakeholders Beyond the Campus – Family involvement and community partnerships hold the potential to improve students’ attendance, academic achievement, and behavior. Research suggests the most crucial form of involvement is academic socialization, which is when families hold conversations with their students regarding academic expectations, educational values, and future aspirations. Schools also benefit from activating community members beyond students’ families. Community members, from local animal shelters to business leaders to pastors, help principals better understand the populations they serve.
Managing Time and Personnel – The nature of a principal’s duties requires them to spend a considerable amount of time on their non-instructional responsibilities. As a result, it is easy for principals to become office-bound. To be successful, a principal should be where the action is, which is where the students are—in the classrooms, on the playground, in the cafeteria, and around the campus. Only by observing teachers and students in their element can one truly understand their experiences, feel their existence, and know the goings-on of the entire school. And there is no substitute for that knowledge.
In 2013, Florida TaxWatch established its prestigious Principal Leadership Awards (PLA) Program to recognize and reward Florida’s highest-performing principals whose schools draw from predominantly at-risk populations, yet those students consistently outperform other schools with comparable populations. As a result of visits with winning principals and roundtable discussions, Florida TaxWatch has identified several “best practices” that are common among the winning principals. Among these are:
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Effective principals are the first person staff members and students see each morning when they arrive at school;
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Effective principals stress parental involvement, and have an open-door policy;
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Effective principals care about each student, to the point where many students could easily recall one or more personal interactions with the principal that one would typically expect of a favorite teacher;
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Effective principals are involved and engaged in the classroom, often helping to teach classes;
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Effective principals use data prominently in developing learning curriculum;
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Effective principals have created a collaborative culture where teachers feel their voices are heard and respected; and
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Effective principals prioritize becoming a hub for the community and finding ways to engage guardians, whether it be providing babysitters during parent conferences or running a food pantry on campus.
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About Florida TaxWatch
As an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog and taxpayer research institute, and the trusted “eyes and ears” of Florida taxpayers for more than 45 years, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) works to improve the productivity and accountability of Florida government. Its research recommends productivity enhancements and explains the statewide impact of fiscal and economic policies and practices on taxpayers and businesses. FTW is supported by its membership via voluntary, tax-deductible donations and private grants. Donations provide a solid, lasting foundation that has enabled FTW to bring about a more effective, responsive government that is more accountable to, and productive for, the taxpayers it has served since 1979. For more information, please visit www.floridataxwatch.org.
