In this section of our website you'll find our education system evaluations, effective practice reports, resources and guides. These are produced by Te Ihuwaka | Education Evaluation Centre and Te Pou Mataaho | Evaluation and Research Māori.
Read more about Te Ihuwaka | Education Evaluation Centre.
Read more about Te Pou Mataaho | Evaluation and Research Māori.
Traditionally New Zealand children started school on their fifth birthday. Recently some schools have changed this to children starting school in scheduled groups. Our latest report on starting school has found that children starting school at the same time, called cohort entry, can have many benefits for children, whānau and schools.
The collection of videos and publications is called Improvement in Action and illustrates what works to achieve successful outcomes for all children and young people in the education system.
The video sequences bring to life ERO’s School Evaluation Indicators.
Aotearoa is more ethnically and culturally diverse than ever before, and good education isn’t one-size-fits-all. Culturally responsive teaching affirms and builds on children’s cultures, identity and languages to achieve successful learning outcomes. This work explores what culturally responsive teaching look like in practice and how schools and services can support good practice.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has had a profound impact on life in New Zealand. Since the start of the pandemic, ERO has been undertaking work to understand the impact of Covid-19 on education in New Zealand. This suite of work looks at the impact of Covid-19 on learners, teachers, leaders and kaiako across the schooling and early learning sector in New Zealand - and sets out recommendations for going forward.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has had a profound impact on all aspects of life around the world. In Aotearoa New Zealand, significant disruption to schooling occurred in 2020 and 2021 due to national and local lockdowns, school closures, and from the ongoing uncertainty caused by Covid-19. These publications look at how schools and the system can respond to Covid-19.
Children and young people who are placed in Oranga Tamariki residential care are among the most at risk of poor outcomes later in life. The education students receive in residence has the power to reconnect them to their learning and change their lives. ERO reviewed how well education is going in these settings. This suite of work describes what we found out about the quality of education in residences and what is needed to significantly improve education for these priority learners.
Critical to science education is the quality of teaching science in schools and early learning services. To support and improve science teaching in New Zealand, ERO has explored how schools and services can strengthen their science teaching and learning. This series of reports identifies where schools and services are doing well, and highlights how schools and services could increase the impact of their science teaching and learning.
Measuring changes to education systems, let alone performance, is complex. With education systems consisting of many moving parts, there are multiple approaches to assessing education system performance across the world, reflecting the reality of this complexity. These publications explore global practice for measuring education system change.
There is a growing body of research which shows that schools who work together are more effective in improving the quality of teaching and student learning, and in supporting school development. This series of reports sets out learnings from examples of schools collaborating and working together.
In February 2021, the MOE requested that the Education Review Office (ERO) carry out an evaluation of the professional development programme, Ako Panuku. The purpose of this evaluation, to consider the programme, its content, delivery modes, resources, and support. In addition, report on the strengths, challenges, and future opportunities.
This document provides a summary of submissions and a decision on the subject matter and scope of the Education Review Office’s 2022 Long-Term Insights Briefing.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide a submission. Your input will help build and strengthen our Long-Term Insights Briefing paper.
Traditionally, children in Aotearoa start school on their firth birthday or any school day after that. Recent changes to the Education Act mean schools can now adopt cohort entry: enrolling children in groups on specific days across the year. Schools are choosing cohort entry to support positive transitions, wellbeing, and learning.
This guide for boards draws on findings from ERO’s report Starting School Together: What Do We Know? and provides insights from schools that have changed to cohort entry.
This short guide for whānau and parents draws on ERO’s new report, Starting Schools Together: What Do We Know? to provide insights about what cohort entry means for how your child transitions from early learning to a cohort entry school.
In Aotearoa, children have usually started school on their fifth birthday. These days, that’s not always the case. Since 2018, schools have had the option of cohort entry, where small groups of children start school together, at particular points during the year. This can change how children transition through an early learning service.
Starting school is a major childhood event. It can be an exciting time for children and their families. But it is a big change, and so it can also be an uncertain time. A good start at school sets children up to succeed at school. We looked to see how changing to cohort entry impacts on children, their peers, and whānau, as well as their schools and early childhood education services.
Starting school is a major childhood event. It can be an exciting time for children and their families. But it is a big change and can be an uncertain time. Since 2018, schools have been able to have children start in groups at certain dates during the year. This is called cohort entry. ERO found that cohort entry has a range of benefits for children’s wellbeing and learning, schools’ ability to structure transitions more easily, and for teachers due to fewer disruptions and more time to teach.
ERO’s new report, Learning in a Covid-19 World: The Impact of Covid-19 on Pacific Learners, goes into detail about the disproportionately negative impact of the pandemic on Pacific learners’ achievement, attendance, mental health, wellbeing, and education pathways. It uses a range of evidence to shine a light on challenges and share successful strategies.
The disruptions caused by Covid-19 over the last two years have been challenging and long lasting. Auckland in particular has had many lockdowns and is where the majority of Pacific learners live.
The disruptions caused by Covid-19 over the last two years have been challenging and long lasting. ERO’s new report, Learning in a Covid-19 World: The Impact of Covid-19 on Pacific Learners, looks closely at the achievement, attendance, mental health and wellbeing, school contexts, and education pathways of Pacific learners over this time. The report shines a light on challenges and shares successful strategies.
