Curriculum Insights and Progress Study: Disability inclusion in schools: Early insights from 2025 Publications
Publication Details
This report presents early findings on disability inclusion in Aotearoa New Zealand schools, drawing on data collected in 2025 as part of the Curriculum Insights and Progress Study. It provides initial national-level insight into how schools are supporting ākonga whaikaha (disabled learners) to access, participate in, and succeed in learning.
Author(s): The Educational Assessment Research Unit (EARU) at the University of Otago, and the New Zealand Council for Educational research (NZCER). Report for the Ministry of Education.
Date Published: September 2026
About the report
The findings are based on data from schools that participated in the Term 3 2025 learning area study and reflect kaiako perspectives on inclusive practice and the outcomes experienced by ākonga whaikaha in their settings. The outcomes data focus on students identified through ORS funding, and therefore reflect the experiences of a diverse group of learners with higher and more complex support needs.
As this is an early phase of data collection, the results should be interpreted as indicative of patterns within the sample rather than as representative of all ākonga whaikaha or all kaiako across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Two measures were used. The Kaiako Self-Efficacy for Disability Inclusion Scale captures teachers’ confidence in inclusive practice. The Disability-Inclusion Outcomes Profile captures teacher judgments across 8 important schooling outcomes for ākonga whaikaha: participation, access, engagement, progress, confidence, student belonging, whānau belonging and acknowledgment of culture.
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