Our research

In 2020, Auckland students were particularly affected by Covid-19 and extra support was provided to them. Following this, ERO undertook an evaluation of three Te Kura programmes aimed at supporting Auckland NCEA students. This report outlines the findings of this evaluation - including the reach and impact of the programmes, and lessons for future responses.

This short summary accompanies the full report Responding to the Covid-19 crisis: Supporting Auckland NCEA students. It outlines the key findings from ERO’s evaluation of three Te Kura programmes aimed at supporting Auckland NCEA students following the lockdowns in 2020. This summary briefly lists who these targeted programmes reached, their impact, and lessons for responding to future lockdowns.  

To support leaders and teachers to review and strengthen the science learning opportunities they provide, ERO explored the strategies and approaches that a selection of schools had taken to increase students’ engagement in science. This short guides draws on this work to help primary school leaders think about how they can support stronger science teaching and learning in their school.

Learning science in the primary school years helps children become better problem solvers and critical thinkers. This short guide aims to help parents and whānau of children in primary school to understand why science matters for this age group, know what to expect for science teaching and learning for their child, and think about how they can support their child’s science learning journey.

To support teaching science in the early years, ERO talked to 147 early childhood services across New Zealand to find out what is happening for learners, and to identify good practice. This short guide draws on this work to help early childhood education leaders and kaiako understand what makes a difference for science in early childhood education and identify how they could strengthen science teaching and learning in their service.

Learning science in the preschool years helps children become better problem solvers and critical thinkers. This short guide aims to help parents and whānau of children in early childhood education to understand why science matters for this age group, know what to expect for science teaching and learning for their child, and think about how they can support their child’s science learning journey.

This report shares teaching approaches and strategies for Year 5 to Year 11 that ERO has identified in a range of schools where students were found to be highly engaged in science. This report should be seen as a resource for leaders and teachers looking to strengthen their teaching of science. It looks at Years 5-11 as they are the critical years for science engagement before learners make final choices on whether to continue in science.

This short guide is for early childhood education leaders and kaiako. It covers what we found from talking to services in 2020 about the impact of Covid-19, and shares strategies used by services to respond to the challenges they faced. It also sets out some actions that could be considered for continuing to support children, parents, whānau and staff in 2021.

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 evaluation studies effective practice in schools’ senior curriculum. It contributes to the review being undertaken by the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). The Ministry-led review focuses on the implementation of NCEA as the national assessment system for the senior years of secondary schooling. 

This retrospective study synthesises findings from 17 national reports about curriculum implementation in early learning services, published over the last 10 years.

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. 

ERO evaluated how well 35 secondary schools were using Vocational Pathways. While most schools knew about and were using the pathways, they were not fully realising the initiative’s potential. Vocational Pathways can be a valued part of a school’s curriculum for all students when used as more than just an add-on to careers education or course selection processes.  

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

This report discusses the effectiveness of employment practices in some kindergartens and education and care services.

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

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 gives an insight into what Canterbury schools and early childhood services experienced during and after the earthquakes. It tells their stories and gives good advice about emergency planning for others in the education sector.