Our research

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.

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.

Pacific communities have faced the challenges of Covid-19 with resilience and schools have put in a range of responses to support Pacific learners through the disruption. This report shines a light on these challenges and shares successful strategies.

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.

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.

Improvement in Action brings to life ERO’s School Evaluation Indicators and illustrates what works to achieve successful outcomes for all children and young people in the education system.

The case studies complement the video sequences in Improvement in Action.

The findings of this evaluation highlight improvements to the quality and consistency of the RTLB service, especially in overall governance and management. 

This publication is designed to support Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako by bringing together research findings about effective collaboration in education communities. It is supported by the publication Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako: working towards collaborative practice.

An additional resource to Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako: Collaboration to Improve Learner Outcomes. This resource is designed to support CoL | Kāhui Ako as they work towards effective collaborative practice. It is framed around key questions in each of the seven effective practice areas and is able to be used both as evidence-based progressions and as a useful internal evaluation tool.

This is the first of a series of iterative reports which draw together what ERO knows about CoL | Kāhui Ako, as they move from establishment to implementation.

This report looks at how well New Zealand early childhood services and schools are supporting transitions to school and highlights what's important and examples of good practice.

This report complements ERO’s major evaluation, Partners in Learning: Schools’ Engagement with Parents, Whānau and Communities, published in May 2008. It presents case studies of eight schools, identified during ERO reviews, that were successful in engaging with their parents, whānau and the wider community. The report also discusses key factors that contribute to the success of this engagement.