Our research

This report provides a snapshot of student and whānau perspectives on the teaching of te reo Māori. It follows the June publication of Te Tāmata Huaroa, which provides a review of the current status of te reo Māori in English medium school settings.

ERO has a comprehensive and fast-tracked work programme underway to understand the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on students, services and schools, and on teaching and learning in Aotearoa New Zealand in the English and Māori medium education sectors.

This report serves to shine some light on the experiences of teachers who have come from overseas to teach in New Zealand. It is based on data collected from a voluntary survey of teachers and principals of the school where they are employed.

This report gives a snapshot of the current provision of te reo Māori teaching and learning in a representative sample of English-medium primary and secondary schools. The education sector is seen as an important lever in the Government’s Maihi Karauna strategy for language revitalisation.

ERO is undertaking a programme of work to learn the lessons from the lockdown and to support the education system, schools and early childhood centres to respond to the disruption to education caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a first stage of this work, ERO surveyed a sample of students and teachers in primary and secondary schools. This report sets out what we found about their wellbeing and experiences of learning and teaching during the lockdown.

ERO conducted case studies of six schools’ implementation of the digital technologies curriculum content in Term 1, 2019. Schools that had successfully integrated the curriculum had leaders who promoted a growth mindset for teachers and looked to integrate digital technologies into existing curriculum. Timely professional development for teachers and positive community connections also enhanced schools’ ability to integrate the digital technologies curriculum.

ERO’s final report in the Te Whāriki series summarises the findings of previous reports and includes the last two focus areas for the curriculum – how services decide ‘what learning matters here’ and how well they were developing learning-focused partnerships with parents and whānau.

How well were school leaders determining Professional Learning and Development priorities and evaluating its impact?

ERO spoke with school leaders responsible for planning Professional Learning and Development (PLD) and looked at a variety of documents in 242 state or state-integrated schools (excluding kura) reviewed in Terms 3 and 4, 2018. ERO made an overall judgment about how well school leaders were determining PLD priorities and evaluating the impact of PLD.

This ERO qualitative case study report undertaken on behalf of Oranga Tamariki captures the voices of children and their whanau who were recipients of the Social Workers in Schools (SWiS) service. SWiS is a government funded, community social work service provided in most English and Māori medium, decile 1-3 primary and intermediate schools.

This Education Review Office (ERO) report describes what a sample of New Zealand schools with Years 1 to 8 students are doing to integrate and support the development of key competencies in their students.

It outlines the support that schools are giving their students to use these competencies in their learning and wellbeing. The report also explores what schools are doing to promote the understanding of key competencies among parents, whānau and trustees.

This is a companion report to Developing Key Competencies in Students Years 1 to 8. It explores current thinking about the importance of building the capabilities of young people. It outlines what the Key Competencies (KCs) are, why they are important, New Zealand’s journey with thinking about the nature and potential uses of KCs, and where this development fits in the international context.

Based on surveys and interviews of 25 schools, this report describes the current state of Pacific bilingual units in New Zealand: their philosophy, curriculum, teaching, assessment and transition practices, tracking of learners’ pathways and outcomes, and the support they receive.

ERO examined what barriers and enablers have influenced schools’ preparation for implementation of the new Digital Technologies and Hangarau Maihiko curriculum. The report also alerts school leaders to the need to engage with the curriculum content with the urgency required to meet the January 2020 deadline for implementation.

ERO is undertaking a series of evaluations on the implementation of Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa. This report examines how prepared services are to implement Te Whāriki, including their engagement with professional learning and development, and determining 'what matters here' and next steps.

This report shares some of the strategies and approaches used by schools who had focused on improving achievement in writing. It also shares some simple strategies used in classrooms where achievement in writing had been accelerated.

New Zealand schools have one of the highest rates of bullying among OECD member countries. In this evaluation, ERO looked at the extent to which schools were effectively working towards an environment in which students feel safe and free from bullying.

A companion report to this one, Bullying Prevention and Response: Student Voice focuses on ERO’s survey of students on their experience and understandings of bullying and effective bullying prevention and response.

This report presents our findings from a student survey about how well their schools prevent and respond to bullying.

This case study report features experiences of three Kāhui Ako and includes the strategies and approaches used to create, build, and strengthen collaboration between schools and early learning services to improve outcomes for learners.

This case study report features experiences of three Kāhui Ako and includes the strategies and approaches used to create, build, and strengthen collaboration between schools and early learning services to improve outcomes for learners.