Our research

Relationship and sexuality education (RSE) is required to be taught in all state and state-integrated schools. RSE is important to children and young people’s physical and mental health, and their safety. However, there are differing views on what, when, and how much should be taught in schools, with a particular focus on sensitive RSE topics.

In 2024, changes to NCEA Level 1 were rolled out nationwide. Leaving school with a qualification leads to better life outcomes, so ensuring Aotearoa New Zealand’s qualifications work well is essential for the success of our young people. ERO reviewed NCEA Level 1 to find out how fair and reliable it is, if it is helping students make good choices, how motivating and manageable it is for students, and the impacts of recent changes. We also explored how valued it is and how implementation has gone so far.

Chronic absence has doubled in the last decade. In Term 2 this year, over 80,000 students missed more than three weeks of school.  These chronically absent students (70 percent or less of the time) are often struggling and are at high risk of poor education and lifetime outcomes. The Education Review Office (ERO) looked at how good the education system and supports are for chronic absence in Aotearoa New Zealand and found that we do not have a strong enough system or effective supports to address chronic absence. 

Language is the foundation for children’s learning and success. Children use oral language to become good thinkers and communicators, and to develop the literacy skills they need to achieve well in school and beyond. This report draws together a range of evidence to look at how well children are developing the oral language skills they need when they start school. We also look at how Early Childhood Education (ECE) can help children to develop these important skills, and recommendations for action.

More than a third of our principals have less than five years’ experience in the role, and it’s important that they are set up for success. ERO looked at pathways and supports for new principals. We make a range of recommendations to improve how new and aspiring principals can be set up for success. 

Each year, Alternative Education provides education to over 2,000 young people who have been disengaged from education and who have high and complex needs. Many are exposed to crime, violence, and trauma, and just under a third have a mental health need. Almost two in five have been referred to attendance services and one in four have been suspended.

The Education Review Office (ERO), in partnership with the Social Wellbeing Agency (SWA), has looked at how well the education system is supporting young people in Alternative Education.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has had a profound impact on life in New Zealand. Since the start of the pandemic, ERO has been undertaking work to understand the impact of Covid-19 on education in New Zealand. This suite of work looks at the impact of Covid-19 on learners, teachers, leaders and kaiako across the schooling and early learning sector in New Zealand - and sets out recommendations for going forward. 

Aotearoa is more ethnically and culturally diverse than ever before, and good education isn’t one-size-fits-all. Culturally responsive teaching affirms and builds on children’s cultures, identity and languages to achieve successful learning outcomes. This work explores what culturally responsive teaching look like in practice and how schools and services can support good practice. 

Going to school is critical for our children’s futures. The evidence is clear that every day of school matters, missing school leads to lower achievement.  In New Zealand, learners are expected to attend school every day the school is open. And yet many don’t. New Zealand has lower attendance than other countries and alarmingly attendance is falling.

To understand what is happening to attendance in New Zealand, the Education Review Office (ERO) looked at parents’ and learners’ attitudes, choices, and experiences.

Teacher aides in Aotearoa New Zealand have a wide range of valued roles and responsibilities. We know that they can enhance learner outcomes by drawing on positive relationships, good training, collaborative practices, and cultural expertise. But we also know that teacher aides can’t do their best work without good support from their schools.

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.

Traditionally New Zealand children started school on their fifth birthday. Recently some schools have changed this to children starting school in scheduled groups.  Our latest report on starting school has found that children starting school at the same time, called cohort entry, can have many benefits for children, whānau and schools. 

The collection of videos and publications is called Improvement in Action and illustrates what works to achieve successful outcomes for all children and young people in the education system.

The video sequences bring to life ERO’s School Evaluation Indicators. 

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has had a profound impact on all aspects of life around the world. In Aotearoa New Zealand, significant disruption to schooling occurred in 2020 and 2021 due to national and local lockdowns, school closures, and from the ongoing uncertainty caused by Covid-19. These publications look at how schools and the system can respond to Covid-19. 

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 reconnect them to their learning and change their lives. ERO reviewed how well education is going in these settings. This suite of work describes what we found out about the quality of education in residences and what is needed to significantly improve education for these priority learners.

Critical to science education is the quality of teaching science in schools and early learning services. To support and improve science teaching in New Zealand, ERO has explored how schools and services can strengthen their science teaching and learning. This series of reports identifies where schools and services are doing well, and highlights how schools and services could increase the impact of their science teaching and learning. 

Measuring changes to education systems, let alone performance, is complex. With education systems consisting of many moving parts, there are multiple approaches to assessing education system performance across the world, reflecting the reality of this complexity. These publications explore global practice for measuring education system change.

There is a growing body of research which shows that schools who work together are more effective in improving the quality of teaching and student learning, and in supporting school development. This series of reports sets out learnings from examples of schools collaborating and working together.