Our research

Science is important – we rely on science and scientific thinking in almost every endeavour in our modern society. High quality science education at school is essential for learners who want a career in science, but it is also important for all learners to help them understand the scientific issues that whānau, communities, and nations face. Issues such as climate change, healthy living, and innovation all depend on science.

Early childhood education services had to quickly adapt to changing requirements and periods of uncertainty due to Covid-19. During lockdown, services had to transition to supporting children to learn from their homes. After lockdown, they had to support children to return to services and continue their learning in a Covid-19 world. This summary highlights the efforts of early childhood services to support students and their whānau.

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 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.

An analysis of achievement data and a desire to introduce more culturally responsive pedagogies into the classroom were triggers for introducing an inquiry -based approach to the teaching of mathematics at Manurewa Central School.

Research evidence shows early in a child’s life is a critical time in terms of the rapid language development that takes place, particularly in the first two to three years.

This evaluation investigated how effectively young children’s oral language learning and development were supported in their early years of education.

This booklet is for all parents and caregivers who have infants and toddlers in an early childhood education service, or who are thinking about enrolling their child in an early childhood service. It gives you an idea of what you can expect from high quality early childhood education and the questions you can ask a service about the education and care of your child. 

The report examines how well 235 early childhood services supported infants and toddlers to become competent and confident communicators and explorers.

The report examines how well 15 of New Zealand's Secondary-Tertiary Programmes (STPs or Trades Academies) are meeting the needs of students at risk of not staying or succeeding in education.

This report presents the findings of ERO’s evaluation of the Ministry of Education's initiative, Achievement 2013-2017.

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

This report discusses secondary schools where Pacific learners are achieving at or above the national norms for all students. It includes details of initiatives and good practice and how these work together to get great results.

This national report discusses how effectively 147 early childhood services used Equity Funding and the extent to which the Equity Funding objectives of participation and quality in early childhood services were achieved.

We have also published a companion report - Use of Equity Funding in Pacific Early Childhood Services.

This national report is ERO’s seventh report about international students. This evaluation included 95 schools (both primary and secondary) and focused on five aspects in relation to international students – integration, progress and achievement, education programme, pastoral care, overall approach and self review.

This resource can be used with the School Evaluation Indicators. It brings together findings from ERO’s recent national reports to outline what works to accelerate progress for Māori students at-risk of underachieving in primary schools. We share approaches schools have taken where progress was accelerated and schools were able to extend their practices to help more students succeed. Innovative schools focus on inequity within their student population, resulting in improved outcomes for Māori students.

This national report is one of two reports that present the findings of a 2012 national evaluation about curriculum priorities. 

This national report is one of two reports that present the findings of a 2012 national evaluation about curriculum priorities.

This national report combines current research with findings from recent ERO reports about students' transitions between and through schools. The report discusses the important pastoral care and learning support processes needed for successful transitions.

This is ERO’s second national evaluation report on the extent to which schools have processes in place to support teaching as inquiry. It also looks at the specific inquiry approaches teachers use in classrooms.

This is ERO's third report on the progress of schools in promoting Pacific student achievement. It tells a similar story to ERO's two previous reports with little evidence of system-wide improvement.