Our research

Children and young people who are placed in Oranga Tamariki residential care are among the most at risk of poor outcomes later in life. Education can change that.  This report looks at the quality of education for students in Oranga Tamariki Care and Protection and Youth Justice residences and how it can be improved.

This short guide is for leaders and teachers that work with students in residential care. It draws from our report Learning in Residential Care, ‘They knew I wanted to learn’, sharing what we heard when we looked at the quality of education in Oranga Tamariki residential care, what research tells us about good education provision for these students, and actions leaders and teachers can take to strengthen teaching and learning in residential care.

This short guide is for social workers that work with students in residential care. It draws from our report Learning in Residential Care, ‘They knew I wanted to learn’, sharing what we heard when we looked at the quality of education in Oranga Tamariki residential care, what research tells us about good education provision for these students, and actions social workers can take to strengthen teaching and learning in residential care.

ERO looked at the quality of education for students in Oranga Tamariki Care and Protection and Youth Justice residences. During this, ERO talked to students about their learning in residential care. This short and easy to read guide is aimed at students in residential care and contains information on what students like them told us about their learning.

This short guide is for parents and whānau of students in residential care. It draws from our report Learning in Residential Care, ‘They knew I wanted to learn’, sharing what we heard when we looked at the quality of education in Oranga Tamariki residential care, what research tells us about good education provision for these students, and actions whānau can take to support students’ learning in residential care.

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 change their lives. ERO reviewed how well education is going in these settings. This summary describes what we found and our recommendations. This accompanies the full report Learning in residential care: They knew I wanted to learn.

This report examines how well students with special education needs are included in New Zealand schools. The report provides an update on progress towards meeting the Government target that, by the end of 2014, 80 percent of New Zealand schools will be doing a good job and none should be doing a poor job of including and supporting students with disabilities.

This report presents examples of good practice in student engagement and achievement. The examples come from a sample of secondary schools, rated decile 5 or below with rolls of 200 students or more, who had better outcomes for students than other similar schools. ERO visited seven of these schools to find out the secret to their success.

This good practice report presents examples from five early childhood services where priorities for children’s learning were well considered and reflected on.

All children deserve the right to an education including those with special education needs. Through its Success for All policy, the Government expects all schools to demonstrate inclusive practice for children with special education needs by the end of 2014. This report presents the findings of a questionnaire where schools assess their own provisions for students with special education needs. It follows on from a similar report produced in early 2012.

ERO has released a series of reports about the National Standards since their introduction in 2010. This latest report focuses on eight schools that are working well with the standards. 

In 2011, ERO evaluated the quality of science teaching and learning, its place within the curriculum and its relationship to literacy and numeracy teaching. The evaluation focused on Years 5 to 8 in 100 schools. This report documents the findings of this evaluation.

This report, Including Students with Special Needs: school questionnaire responses presents the findings from a questionnaire completed by schools reviewed in the first two terms of 2011. It is based on schools’ own views of how well they include children with special needs.

The intent of the evaluation was to gain an insight and understanding of literacy teaching and learning in early childhood education. This report complements the ERO national evaluation report, Literacy in Early Childhood: Teaching and Learning, February 2011. It presents examples of good practice from 13 early childhood services, identified during their ERO reviews, which had high quality literacy teaching and learning. ERO revisited these services in Term 4, 2010. These services were at different stages in their understanding and associated literacy teaching and learning practices.

ERO evaluated the collection and use of assessment information in schools in 2006. The evaluation concluded that more work can be done to improve assessment practice in schools. This report builds on this finding by giving examples of good practice in the collection and use of assessment information in primary schools. The report also includes three detailed case studies.