Great IDEAS: Revitalisng teaching, learning and student achievement

Abstract

Many of us think we know what a really good principal is. We also think we know what student achievement is. But how does a good principal actually influence student achievement? In other words, how does it work? What is in the 'black box' - as Frank Crowther refers to it- between a good principal and student success? IDEAS attempts to explain what is in the 'black box'. Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools (IDEAS) is a major contemporary innovation and contribution to school revitalisation and reform. The IDEAS project was conceptually developed and undertaken with extraordinary success in several schools in Australia, starting in the late 1990s. Since then, the project has been extended to some several hundred schools in Australia. In partnership with the Leadership Research Institute in Queensland and three pilot schools in Singapore, we are now exploring how the IDEAS framework can be adapted to the Singapore context. With its focus on parallel leadership and a schoolwide approach to teaching and learning, it has the potential to move our understanding of. student achievement, and indeed reform and revitalisation- to new heights for Singapore schools. In this paper, we provide a basic explanation of the IDEAS framework and give a progress report on the exciting work in the three partner schools.