Our research

The Education Review Office (ERO), in partnership with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the Office for Disability Issues (ODI), looked at how well the education system is supporting disabled learners in schools. We found that we need to improve education for disabled learners so they can thrive. This report describes what we found and what is needed to significantly improve education for these priority learners.

Receiving a quality education, from early childhood education (ECE) through to secondary school, positively affects how well all children and young people do at school and in life – from academic achievement and earning potential to health and wellbeing. Education is even more critical for disabled learners. When disabled learners receive a quality, inclusive education they are more likely to achieve better outcomes, to complete secondary schooling and to go on to further study and employment.

Disabled learners have the right to enrol and receive a quality, inclusive education at their local school. When disabled learners receive a quality, inclusive education they are more likely to achieve better outcomes, are more likely to complete secondary schooling and to go on to further study and employment. This study looked at how well the education system is supporting disabled learners. It found we need to improve education for disabled learners so they can thrive.

Quality early childhood education (ECE) affects how well all children do at school and in life – from academic achievement and earning potential to health and wellbeing. Quality ECE supports children to develop the social, emotional, communication, cognitive, and motor skills which enable them to thrive. This is particularly critical for disabled children as it sets the foundation for their future learning.

ERO looked at how well the education system is supporting disabled learners in schools. This guide provides practical advice and real-life examples of good practice that will be useful for principals, senior leadership, and learning support leaders.

A quality, inclusive education makes a huge difference for disabled learners. With good education, these children and young people have better learning and life outcomes, and are more likely to complete secondary schooling and go on to further study and employment. ERO looked at how well the New Zealand education system is supporting these learners, to get a good understanding of what’s working and what needs to improve.

ERO looked at how well the education system is supporting disabled learners in schools. This guide provides practical advice and real-life examples of good practice for teachers to support the inclusion and learning success of disabled learners at your school.

ERO looked at how well the education system is supporting disabled children in early childhood education. This guide provides practical advice and real-life examples of good practice for teachers, to support the inclusion and learning success of disabled children in your service.

A quality, inclusive early childhood education is important for all children. It is especially important for children who need support to be fully included, and to learn and play alongside their peers. It helps them have better learning and life outcomes – both today and into their futures.

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.

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.

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.

All of the participants in this evaluation modify their teaching and learning programmes to better suit the needs of their learners. They intentionally focus on the integration of the NCEA standards through their te marau ā-kura. Leaders, professionals, kaiako and kaimahi are extremely effective in developing and using innovative tools and resources to support student progression.

In the days preceding 26 March 2020, kura needed to rapidly respond to and prepare for a move to distance teaching and learning. We had been informed that at midnight 25^th March 2020 the entire country would go into COVID-19 Alert Level four Lockdown. There was uncertainty about how long the situation would continue.

Principles of Practice: Education Evaluation for Improvement in Schools and Early Childhood Services is one of the suite of resources developed by the Education Review Office (ERO) to support education evaluation practice.

This resource draws on recent Education Review Office (ERO) national evaluation reports to highlight how schools, both primary and secondary, have been evaluating teaching and learning and then using the findings to improve outcomes for students. ERO found that schools that significantly improved outcomes for students based their priorities for action on the findings from high-quality internal evaluation.