Our research

He Kupu Arotake is a list of education terms in te reo Māori and English.

Tōku reo, tōku ohooho.

Tōku reo, tōku māpihi maurea.

Tōku reo, tōku whakakai marihi!

A Māori-English version is also available. 

This report is the second in our Evaluation at a Glance series. It is a synthesis of material from 15 national evaluations and reports of good practice published in the last four years that, taken together, reveal three key issues facing New Zealand’s education system. 

This evaluation looks at the Ako Panuku programme, which is funded by the Ministry of Education for Māori secondary/kura teachers. ERO conducted an online survey of all teachers involved in the programme and also visited a number of schools and kura. Our findings show that a high proportion of teachers found the programme to be highly effective or effective for them. Ako Panuku has had positive outcomes for participants and their students.

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 evaluation looked at how effectively schools use literacy and mathematics achievement information to improve learning for Years 9 and 10 students. The evaluation found that improvements are needed in most secondary schools’ practice with these students. It identifies the actions which school leaders, boards of trustees and teachers can take to help Years 9 and 10 students to be engaged, active and successful learners.

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.

Evaluation at a Glance: What ERO Knows About Effective Schools explores five themes from a cross-section of ERO's evaluations in primary and secondary schools over the past four years:

• A focus on the learner
• Leadership in an inclusive culture
• Effective teaching
• Engagement with parents, whānau and communities
• Coherent policies and practice in a cycle of continuous self review

In late 2015, the Cabinet Social Policy Committee asked ERO to assess ‘the current status of food, nutrition and physical activity in schools and early childhood services’ and to report on Health Promoting Schools that were included in the sample. We visited 202 early learning services, 46 primary schools and 29 secondary schools in the first half of 2016.

We asked: How well does the service/school promote positive attitudes to physical activity, and food and nutrition to benefit children?

This 2010 report evaluates how schools have promoted success for Māori students since ERO’s previous national report in 2006. The success of Māori students at school is a matter of national interest and priority. ERO has published five national evaluation reports on this topic since 2001. These have identified system-wide issues and recommended steps to be taken by schools and by the Ministry of Education to promote success for Māori in education.

This report complements the national evaluation report, Success for Māori Children in Early Childhood Services, March 2010. It presents examples of good practice from nine early childhood services, identified during their ERO reviews, which had practices that were working for Māori children and their parents and whānau.

This evaluation also raises questions about the links between implementing a bicultural curriculum and reviewing its impact for Māori children. This is the next step for services that already have strong bicultural curriculum. Reflecting on and questioning the extent to which Māori children experience success as learners is part of the challenge for managers and educators in early childhood services. The findings of this evaluation indicate that many services have some way to go in working with parents and whānau and enabling Māori children to become competent and confident learners.