Making more sense of ERO reports

• By PJ Taylor, Eastern Times

With the brief to make them easier for parents to understand, the Education Review Office
(ERO) is rolling out new ERO reports.

Education Minister Erica Stanford charged ERO to make its publicly available periodic
reports of the nation’s schools, new “clearer, more useful information”, and announced the
change at Owairoa School in Howick on Tuesday.

It’s all about letting parents know “how their child’s school is performing through an
overhaul to ERO’s school reports”, Stanford says.

“Parents, teachers and school boards want to celebrate the successes of their local schools and need to clearly understand any areas for improvement.

“To date, reports on school performance through ERO have not sufficiently focussed on the
details most relevant to parents and have been dense and complicated to read and understand.

“As Minister, I’ve heard this from parents and know that too often, key challenges facing our schools, or the successes they’re achieving haven’t been evidenced through ERO’s reporting.

“I’m pleased to be releasing a new, simplified report that’s focussed on student achievement, progress and engagement.”

Stanford says the new model ERO reports were co-designed with parents in consultation, “to ensure fit-for-purpose reports help families to feel informed and support schools to respond”.

“From term two, parents can expect more detail on almost twice as many topics.

“Reports will have clear measurements and strong, visual, easy-to-understand overviews of
performance and the value that schools are adding for students.

“The new reports will recognise successes as well and provide a roadmap for improvement.
They focus on the key changes that will make the most difference for students.”

At Stanford’s side at the announcement at Owairoa School, which was spotlessly clean and
welcoming as always, with the sound of happy classrooms all around, was acting ERO chief
executive Ruth Shinoda, who was happy and upbeat throughout the visit.

She says the new reports were trialled at 12 schools across the country – a mix of urban and rural – involving 100 participants, to their approval.

Stanford says: “ERO has engaged and hosted parent focus groups to gather valuable
feedback, and this is apparent in the new parent focus throughout the reports.”

The new ERO reports come soon after the new student reports were announced at Cockle
Bay School by Stanford with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on February 5.

Owairoa School principal Alan McIntyre, one of the country’s most experienced and longest-
serving community education leaders, who cultivates a very successful and genuine “family” environment, says the new system is “a very good step forward”, as the previous one was “inadequate”.

Owairoa School is consistently one of the country’s high-achieving ERO report holders.

Shinoda says the new ERO reports “will set out how well the school is doing on 14 areas”.

“For each of these areas, there is a clear judgement on a four-point scale.”