Our research

Ā Mātou Rangahau

In this section of our website you'll find our education system evaluations, effective practice reports, resources and guides. These are produced by Te Ihuwaka | Education Evaluation Centre and Te Pou Mataaho | Evaluation and Research Māori.

Read more about Te Ihuwaka | Education Evaluation Centre.

Read more about Te Pou Mataaho | Evaluation and Research Māori.

Read about the questions we are asking.

There are 23 research articles.
  • Topics: Māori secondary teachers, Playcentres, Professional development, Reading, Relationships, School leaders
  • Published: 10 May 2021

    Exploring Collaboration in Action: Kahukura Community of Practice

    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.

  • Published: 10 May 2021

    Collaboration in Action: Lessons from a Community of Practice

    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.

  • Published: 06 May 2021

    Te Muka Here Tangata – The strand that binds people

    This case study explores the impact of the 2020 Covid-19 events on Māori learners in English-medium schools, and the response of leaders, schools and communities in the Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions.

  • Published: 10 Dec 2020

    Learning in a Covid-19 World: How school leadership rose to the challenge

    Principals and school leaders have taken on a lot of responsibility during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Education Review Office interviewed principals and board chairs and surveyed 1777 principals across the country from May through to September 2020 to understand how they have responded. This summary highlights how those school leaders rose to the challenge.

  • Published: 02 Dec 2019

    Professional Learning and Development in Schools

    How well were school leaders determining Professional Learning and Development priorities and evaluating its impact?

    ERO spoke with school leaders responsible for planning Professional Learning and Development (PLD) and looked at a variety of documents in 242 state or state-integrated schools (excluding kura) reviewed in Terms 3 and 4, 2018. ERO made an overall judgment about how well school leaders were determining PLD priorities and evaluating the impact of PLD.

  • Published: 14 May 2018

    Teaching strategies that work - Reading

    The Education Review Office (ERO) has released the latest in its Teaching Strategies that Work series. “Keeping children engaged and achieving in reading” is a description of strategies used by primary schools which have significantly improved their students’ achievement in reading.

  • Published: 04 Sep 2017

    Learning-centred relationships: reading together

    This school has implemented the Reading Together programme for many years. Leadership sees the value of the programme in building strong learning relationships with family and whanau and supporting emerging literacy.

  • Published: 04 Sep 2017

    Shared values

    Culturally responsive relationships and practices support and promote the development of learners’ confidence in their identity, language and culture. These relationships are explicitly acknowledged and understood by teachers and learners and contribute to an inclusive learning environment in which there are equitable opportunities to learn.  This video was filmed at Invercargill Middle School.

  • Published: 04 Sep 2017

    Shared ownership

    Senior leaders at Invercargill Middle School have put processes in place to ensure that all teachers participate in and contribute to the co-construction of decisions about how best to move forward. The principal describes the approach as ‘change coming from the classroom, not the principals office’.

  • Published: 04 Sep 2017

    Partnerships between home and community

    This school seeks every opportunity to connect with the groups within its multicultural community to support those groups to connect to one another as well as engage with the school and their children’s learning.

  • Published: 04 Sep 2017

    Relationships for learning

    A learning community characterised by whanaungatanga and manaakitanga creates the challenge and support needed to develop learning to learn capabilities and achieve successful learning outcomes.

    This video was filmed at McAuley High School.

  • Published: 04 Sep 2017

    Purposeful education pathway

    The setting of academic goals that build toward purposeful educational pathways and career options begins early at McAuley High School and supports student choices throughout their schooling.

  • Published: 04 Sep 2017

    Professional learning

    Professional learning reflects the approach that has been established for students. Learning is differentiated with multiple opportunities for engagement and structure in manageable steps.

    This video was filmed at McAuley High School.

  • Published: 04 Sep 2017

    Professional inquiry  

    Inquiry is at the heart of what drives improvement and innovation at McAuley High School. 

  • Published: 04 Sep 2017

    Visible professional learning

    At McAuley High School, classroom teacher observations are a frequent occurrence and students report how they regard this as teachers actively modelling learning behaviour.

  • Published: 07 Nov 2016

    School Leadership That Works

    This evaluation report illustrates the leadership domain of ERO’s School Evaluation Indicators in practice by:

  • Published: 14 Mar 2014

    Your child's education

    These booklets 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.

    Your child's education is an overview of education in New Zealand, from early childhood education through to secondary school. The information and questions are a useful insight into what education looks like in New Zealand and the opportunities available to your child.

  • Published: 02 Aug 2012

    Ako Panuku: An evaluation of the programme’s effectiveness

    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.