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To understand what the challenges of Covid-19 were in 2020 and how schools responded, the Education Review Office spoke to schools and surveyed over 2500 principals and teachers across the country. This report presents our findings on how Covid-19 impacted students, teachers and schools, how schools responded and what they learnt, and the challenges schools expect they might face in future alert level changes.

Early childhood education services had to quickly adapt to changing requirements and periods of uncertainty due to Covid-19 in 2020. ERO undertook work to understand how this affected early childhood education services. This report presents our findings on how Covid-19 impacted children, whānau and services, how services responded and what they learnt, and the challenges that services expect they might face in future alert level changes.

Disabled learners have the right to enrol and receive a quality, inclusive education at their local school. When disabled learners receive a quality, inclusive education they are more likely to achieve better outcomes, are more likely to complete secondary schooling and to go on to further study and employment. This study looked at how well the education system is supporting disabled learners. It found we need to improve education for disabled learners so they can thrive.

This guide draws on findings from ERO’s report Long Covid: Ongoing impacts of Covid-19 on schools and learning, providing what we learned from surveying principals, teachers, and learners in 2023.

This guide will help school board members understand the diverse role of teacher aides, and the specific ways that teacher aides need to be supported by schools to make the most difference for learners.

Quality early childhood education (ECE) affects how well disabled children do at school and in life – from academic achievement and earning potential, to health and wellbeing.

The Education Review Office (ERO), in partnership with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the Office for Disability Issues (ODI), looked at how well the education system is supporting disabled learners in schools. We found that we need to improve education for disabled learners so they can thrive. This report describes what we found and what is needed to significantly improve education for these priority learners.

While there are a range of factors that impact on attendance, our research shows that some are more important than others. This report sets out the drivers of attendance that have the biggest impact on whether learners go to school regularly. These include parents’ attitudes, learners’ attitudes, and how learners experience school.  

ERO is undertaking a programme of work to learn the lessons from the lockdown and to support the education system, schools and early childhood centres to respond to the disruption to education caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a first stage of this work, ERO surveyed a sample of students and teachers in primary and secondary schools. This report sets out what we found about their wellbeing and experiences of learning and teaching during the lockdown.

This work explores global best practice for measuring education system change. It considers the variation found between different approaches to measuring education system change, looking particularly at how select individual countries and multilaterals each approach this.  This work will also consider what can support countries to monitor education performance.   

This is a companion report to Developing Key Competencies in Students Years 1 to 8. It explores current thinking about the importance of building the capabilities of young people. It outlines what the Key Competencies (KCs) are, why they are important, New Zealand’s journey with thinking about the nature and potential uses of KCs, and where this development fits in the international context.

Teacher aides can make a real difference for learners. They have a wide range of valued roles and responsibilities, and can enhance learner outcomes by drawing on positive relationships, good training, collaborative practices, and cultural expertise. ERO was commissioned by the Ministry of Education and NZEI Te Riu Roa to find out what good teacher aide practice and support looks like. This summary gives an overview of what we learnt.

This short report, aimed at secondary school leaders, sets out how prepared students and schools felt ahead of the Covid-19 lockdown in August and provides recommendations for how schools can support their students as they return to the classroom. 

Quality early childhood education (ECE) affects how well all children do at school and in life – from academic achievement and earning potential to health and wellbeing. Quality ECE supports children to develop the social, emotional, communication, cognitive, and motor skills which enable them to thrive. This is particularly critical for disabled children as it sets the foundation for their future learning.

This short report, aimed at primary school leaders, sets out how prepared students and schools felt ahead of the Covid-19 lockdown in August and provides recommendations for how schools can support their students as they return to the classroom. 

Each year, Alternative Education provides education to over 2,000 young people who have been disengaged from education and who have high and complex needs. The Education Review Office (ERO), in partnership with the Social Wellbeing Agency (SWA), has looked at how well the education system is supporting young people in Alternative Education. This study describes what we found and what is needed to significantly improve educa