Our research

  • Published: 06 Dec 2021

    The Impact of Covid-19 on Teachers and Principals - Summary

    This short summary of our longer report Learning in a Covid-19 World: The Impact of Covid-19 on Teachers and Principals looks at the impact of Covid-19 on teachers and principals – including how Covid-19 has impacted enjoyment in work and workload. It also sets out examples of how schools can prepare for 2022 and what supports will be needed for teachers and principals.

  • Published: 26 Nov 2024

    Set up to succeed – How well is NCEA Level 1 working for our schools and students?

    ERO reviewed NCEA Level 1 to find out how fair and reliable it is, if it is helping students make good choices, how motivating and manageable it is for students, and the impacts of recent changes. We also explored how valued it is and how implementation has gone so far. This summary sets out what we looked and how, and the key findings and recommendations.

  • Published: 30 Oct 2024

    Left behind: How do we get our chronically absent students back to school?

    Chronic absence has doubled in the last decade. The Education Review Office (ERO) looked at how good the education system and supports are for chronic absence in Aotearoa New Zealand and found that we do not have a strong enough system or effective supports to address chronic absence. 

  • Published: 10 Sep 2024

    Someone to talk to: Evaluation of Counselling in Schools - Counselling

    The Education Review Office looked at the effectiveness of Counselling in Schools, how well it reached the students it is targeted at, the impact it had, and some lessons for counselling programmes in the future. We found that counselling improves students’ mental health, and we also saw some encouraging signs of improved learning and wellbeing more widely. 

  • Published: 23 Aug 2024

    Let’s keep talking: Oral language development in the early years

    Language is the foundation for children’s learning and success. Children use oral language to become good thinkers and communicators, and to develop the literacy skills they need to achieve well in school and beyond. This report draws together a range of evidence to look at how well children are developing the oral language skills they need when they start school. We also look at how Early Childhood Education (ECE) can help children to develop these important skills, and recommendations for action.

  • Published: 13 Jun 2024

    Built in, not bolted on - Evaluation of education at specialist day schools

    Specialist day schools provide education to disabled students with high and very high needs. The Education Review Office (ERO) recently completed individual reviews of the quality of education provision in all 27 specialist day schools across Aotearoa New Zealand. This report provides a summary of the findings of the 27 individual reviews.

  • Published: 13 May 2024

    Ready, set, teach: How prepared and supported are new teachers?

    Teachers are the most important influence on student outcomes in schools. To achieve the government’s ambition to raise student achievement, it is critical that our teaching workforce is well prepared and supported. ERO looked at how well prepared and supported our new teachers are.

  • Published: 04 Apr 2024

    Teaching Histories - Implementation of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories and the refreshed Social Sciences learning area

    In 2023, teaching Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories (ANZ Histories) became compulsory for students in Years 1-10. ANZ Histories is part of the refreshed Social Sciences learning area. The Education Review Office, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, wanted to know how the implementation of ANZ Histories and the wider Social Sciences is going. This report describes what we found about the changes and the impacts for students, teachers, and parents and whānau. It also describes the lessons that can help inform the ongoing implementation of the Refreshed Curriculum.