Our research

Children and young people who are placed in Oranga Tamariki residential care are among the most at risk of poor outcomes later in life. Education can change that.  This report looks at the quality of education for students in Oranga Tamariki Care and Protection and Youth Justice residences and how it can be improved.

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 change their lives. ERO reviewed how well education is going in these settings. This summary describes what we found and our recommendations. This accompanies the full report Learning in residential care: They knew I wanted to learn.

This short guide is for leaders and teachers that work with students in residential care. It draws from our report Learning in Residential Care, ‘They knew I wanted to learn’, sharing what we heard when we looked at the quality of education in Oranga Tamariki residential care, what research tells us about good education provision for these students, and actions leaders and teachers can take to strengthen teaching and learning in residential care.

This short guide is for social workers that work with students in residential care. It draws from our report Learning in Residential Care, ‘They knew I wanted to learn’, sharing what we heard when we looked at the quality of education in Oranga Tamariki residential care, what research tells us about good education provision for these students, and actions social workers can take to strengthen teaching and learning in residential care.

ERO looked at the quality of education for students in Oranga Tamariki Care and Protection and Youth Justice residences. During this, ERO talked to students about their learning in residential care. This short and easy to read guide is aimed at students in residential care and contains information on what students like them told us about their learning.

This short guide is for parents and whānau of students in residential care. It draws from our report Learning in Residential Care, ‘They knew I wanted to learn’, sharing what we heard when we looked at the quality of education in Oranga Tamariki residential care, what research tells us about good education provision for these students, and actions whānau can take to support students’ learning in residential care.

ERO was approached by principals from Kahukura to document and evaluate their community of practice in Christchurch. This report identifies what is working well for this community of practice, areas where they might consider further enhancements, and lessons and insights into practices which could be shared with others.

This short report accompanies our report Exploring Collaboration in Action: Kahukura Community of Practice.  It looks at the lessons that can be learnt from the Kahukura community of practice, drawing out key lessons on collaboration and providing seven key implications for schools who are interested in collaborating to consider.

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.

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.

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.

This report highlights how early childhood services keep up to date with changing regulations and legal requirements in order to effectively manage for children’s safety and wellbeing.

The Prime Minister’s Youth Mental Health Project aims to improve the mental health of young people aged 12 to 19 years. One initiative of this project is a national evaluation of the current provision of guidance and counselling in schools.

The Education Review Office (ERO) evaluated how well 44 schools and five wharekura provided guidance and counselling for students.

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 report presents the findings of three online surveys about the current provision of guidance and counselling in schools with students in Years 9 to 13. This is the first phase of work being undertaken by ERO as part of the Prime Minister’s Youth Mental Health Project.

The intent of the evaluation was to gain an insight and understanding of literacy teaching and learning in early childhood education. This report complements the ERO national evaluation report, Literacy in Early Childhood: Teaching and Learning, February 2011. It presents examples of good practice from 13 early childhood services, identified during their ERO reviews, which had high quality literacy teaching and learning. ERO revisited these services in Term 4, 2010.