Our research

Evaluation and review are the engine room that drives the improvement agenda forward, involving all within the learning community in an ongoing cycle.

Members of a school strategic change leadership team  discuss how a significant drop in the NCEA achievement outcomes of their Māori students, which had been consistently tracking upwards since 2009, created a context that required a critically reflective analysis of both cohort and individual data, alongside a review of the current tracking and monitoring processes and tools.

Curriculum approaches in years 9 and 10 are designed to set students up for success.

A school principal talks about how he works with his teachers and Māori community to develop a bicultural school context within which both Treaty partners are acknowledged and valued. A teacher and members of the Māori community describe how this principal’s leadership has facilitated a reciprocal relationship between the school and their local Māori community.

In response to student voice, this school sought external expertise to provide opportunities for the children to learn more about their identity, language and culture. For those involved, the opportunity to develop new knowledge and understandings is just the beginning of the journey.

At this secondary school leaders and teachers have responded to students’ need for more time to achieve their goals. While not mandatory for either staff or students, lunchtime and after school learning sessions have become the norm.

Data and information about teaching and learning is made highly visible and the interpretation and response are a collaborative process. Leaders and teachers reflect on the role of data in professional relationships and how an open approach builds capability and confidence to respond to the challenges that need to be addressed.

The provision of opportunities for collaborative professional learning are designed to build adaptive expertise through enabling the participation and contribution of all staff members.

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.

Wellbeing for success: a resource for schools has been developed to help schools evaluate and improve student wellbeing. It highlights the importance of schools promoting the wellbeing of all students as well as the need for systems, people and initiatives to respond to wellbeing concerns for students who need additional support.

This guide to using internal evaluation for improvement purposes is published jointly by ERO and the Ministry of Education as a companion to School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success and is supported by Internal Evaluation: Good Practice.

In this report, the Education Review Office (ERO) evaluated how well 256 schools worked with parents and whanau to respond to students at risk of underachievement. We looked for examples where schools had specifically worked with parents and whānau to accelerate and support progress and improve achievement.

In 2013 the Education Review Office (ERO) evaluated the quality of teacher appraisal systems in schools using online surveys of principals and information from 200 school reviews. This report presents the findings of ERO’s evaluation of schools’ approaches to teacher appraisal.

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 is about how effectively 15 Pacific early childhood services used Equity Funding to increase Pacific children's participation and support them to develop their language, culture and identity.

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

This ERO evaluation reports on primary schools' progress in relation to the Government's Success for All policy. Success for All is about getting all schools to demonstrate inclusive practice for students with special needs.

Effective Teaching - What's happening in my child's classroom? gives parents an insight into teaching practice and includes questions parents can use when discussing their child's progress with the school.

ERO guides for parents have been written for everyone who parents a child - those who have care and responsibility for children attending a school. The booklets include questions you can ask, as well as general information that you may find useful. Click on the booklet to read and download. 

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 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.

ERO evaluated how well schools included students with high needs. Approximately three percent of the student population have significant physical, sensory, neurological, psychiatric, behavioural or intellectual impairment. ERO’s evaluation showed that approximately half of the schools in the study demonstrated inclusive practice, while 30 percent had ‘pockets of inclusive practice’ and 20 percent had few inclusive practices.