This is the home page for the annual Early Childhood Education Census fact sheets and reports.…

Author(s): Various

Date Published: Annually

These Achievement Challenge reports were provided by Kāhui Ako for the Ministry to host on their behalf. Kāhui Ako were disestablished on 28 January 2026.

Date Published: Various

This report presents a proxy measure of the affordability of early learning services for parents. It details the findings of an analysis conducted using the Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which explored the relationship between parental income and children's…

Author(s): Oindrila Bhattacharya and Rory Sudfelt, Data and Insights, Ministry of Education

Date Published: July 2025

This report provides a detailed description of an analysis undertaken by the Ministry of Education in the Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), investigating Early Childhood Education (ECE) teaching staff pay. The analysis was undertaken as part of the Ministry’s…

Author(s): Oindrila Bhattacharya and Rory Sudfelt, Data and Insights, Ministry of Education

Date Published: February 2025

This is the home page for OECD's Education at a Glance. Every year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) publishes Education at a Glance (EAG), a set of indicators that compares the education systems of its member countries,…

Author(s): Various

Date Published: Annually

The Early Learning Action Plan (ELAP) was released in 2019. This plan provides a stepped approach towards reaching the Government’s vision for early learning over the next 10 years. The plan outlined 5 interdependent early learning objectives set around the

Author(s): Rory Sudfelt, Oindrila Bhattacharya, Hannah McCardle - Evidence, Synthesis & Reporting (Ministry of Education)

Date Published: May 2022 - June 2024

This page contains reports about the trial of draft tools to support formative assessment in early learning (Kōwhiti Whakapae). Four of these reports are authored by the University of Waikato and report on the evaluation of the trial. The fifth…

Author(s): Amanda Bateman, Melissa Derby, Hoana McMillan, Raella Kahuroa, Linda Mitchell, and Bronwen Cowie, Wilf Malcolm Institute, University of Waikato
CORE Education.

Date Published: August 2022

This report looks at the participation of mokopuna Māori aged 0 to 4 years in licensed early learning services between 2014 and 2021 and the use of te reo Māori in the services mokopuna attend.…

Author(s): Evidence, Data and Knowledge, Ministry of Education.

Date Published: March 2022

Aotearoa is more ethnically and culturally diverse than ever before, and good education isn’t one-size-fits-all. Culturally responsive teaching affirms and builds on children’s cultures and languages to promote the learning outcomes of Te Whāriki through rich, relevant learning experiences. But…

Author(s): Education Review Office

Date Published: February 2022

This report examines data relating to attendance at and the availability of Māori-medium early learning services (kōhanga reo and Māori-medium ECE services), the Māori-medium early learning workforce, and enrolments in Māori-medium teachers’ qualifications. Kōhanga reo are examined separately from other…

Author(s): Fernanda Piraud, Ministry of Education.

Date Published: September 2021

This He Whakaaro is part of a series, exploring impacts of COVID-19 on the education system. This report uses emerging data collected during 2020 to explore children’s patterns of participation in early childhood education (ECE), and how it is being…

Author(s): Andrew Webber, Evidence Data and Knowledge, Ministry of Education.

Date Published: December 2020

This insights paper uses data collected by the 'Growing Up in New Zealand' (GUiNZ) study1 to examine what affects how often New Zealand mothers read books to their pre-school aged children. The GUiNZ study has collected a wide range of…

Author(s): Steve Thomas and Kane Meissel, University of Auckland and Professor Stuart McNaughton, Chief Education Scientific Advisor, Ministry of Education.

Date Published: December 2019

In March 2018, the Government introduced Targeted Funding for Disadvantage (Targeted Funding). Targeted Funding is similar to Equity Funding Component A. Before implementing Targeted Funding, the Ministry of Education conducted a pre-implementation evaluation. The evaluation looked at how early learning…

Author(s): Ministry of Education.

Date Published: July 2018

This report examines the outcomes of attendance at early childhood education (ECE) amongst members of the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS) birth cohort, with a particular focus on the potential benefits of ECE attendance for longer term outcomes in…

Author(s): John Horwood, Geraldine F.H McLeod, University of Otago, Christchurch. Report prepared for the Ministry of Education.

Date Published: June 2017

This report is from the fourth and final stage of an evaluation of the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) ECE Participation Programme. The overall evaluation focus is on how the Participation Programme and individual initiatives addressed barriers to participation in early…

Author(s): Linda Mitchell, Patricia Meagher-Lundberg, Sonja Arndt and Helena Kara, Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research. Report for the Ministry of Education.

Date Published: September 2016

This is the home page for the Incredible Years Teacher (IYT). The IYT programme is a six session programme for teachers of children aged 3-8 years. It is based on strengthening teacher classroom management strategies, promoting children’s pro-social behaviour and…

Author(s): Varies

Date Published: Varies

This report is from the third stage of an evaluation of the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) ECE Participation Programme. The overall evaluation focus is on how the Participation Programme and individual initiatives addressed barriers to participation in early childhood education…

Author(s): Linda Mitchell, Patricia Meagher-Lundberg, Claire Davidson, Helena Kara, Telesia Kalavite, Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research. Report for the Ministry of Education.

Date Published: February 2016

This report presents results from the 2013 Survey of Income, Expenditure and Fees (SIEF) at ECE Services. This survey collected information on the costs, income, assets and liabilities, fees and voluntary work and is comparable to the 2011 SIEF. The…

Author(s): Julia Arnold, Evidence, Data and Knowledge, Ministry of Education.

Date Published: November 2015

This report, ‘Case Studies of Assessment Practice’, provides details of findings from the four hubs and four pairs, constructed as case studies.…

Author(s): Linda Mitchell, Bronwen Cowie, Jeanette Clarkin-Phillips, Keryn Davis, Ali Glasgow, Ann Hatherly, Lesley Rameka, Louise Taylor and Maretta Taylor. Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, The University of Waikato. Report commissioned by the Continuity of Early Learning Workstream of the Minister's Cross-Sector Forum on Raising Achievement.

Date Published: July 2015

This report sets out the Literature Scan for the Continuity of Early Learning project. The literature scan focused on current practice in documenting and sharing learning progress in the early years, summarising New Zealand and International approaches.…

Author(s): Margaret Carr, Bronwen Cowie and Keryn Davis. Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, The University of Waikato. Report commissioned by the Continuity of Early Learning Workstream of the Minister's Cross-Sector Forum on Raising Achievement.

Date Published: July 2015