ERO drops colour-coded school ratings after principals said they penalised poor communities

The Education Review Office is taking the red and yellow squares off its school reports.

RNZ has reported that ERO told schools it will drop the colour-coding from the review reports it launched in April. It will also reorder the reports to lead with each school's strengths. ERO has offered to update the reports of schools that received the new-look version in the past two school terms.

The April format rated schools in 14 areas on a four-point scale, from "excelling" to "improvement required", and showed the ratings in a colour-coded table. According to RNZ, principals warned the format was unfair to schools in poor communities. Those schools were likely to get red or yellow squares, which mark below-average performance, for student achievement and attendance.

In a statement to RNZ, ERO said it would remove the colour-coding from the front-page snapshot of each school's performance. It will also change its "overview" of the 14 areas so student outcomes are shown separately from school conditions, with the areas listed in "strengths-based order". Each report will get a fuller section describing the school's context.

"We've listened to feedback from schools and sector groups, and have made some adjustments to the format of our school reports and how information is presented," ERO told RNZ.

ERO was also clear about what is not changing. "These changes do not alter the substance of the report, its findings, or ERO's evaluation. They are designed to provide a clear and structured presentation of the information contained in the report."

That makes the reissue offer narrower than it might sound. A school rated "improvement required" for attendance earlier this year will still carry that rating in an updated report; it just won't be a red square on the front page.

Papakura High School principal Simon Craggs told RNZ he gave "a little cheer" when ERO's message arrived. The change was "something that we've been really hoping to see for the last couple of terms while this new report format's been in place", he said.

Craggs said the format disadvantaged schools with a high equity index number. A high number means more students facing socioeconomic barriers to achievement.

"Schools with students who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds have found it very, very difficult to meet the criteria, particularly around attendance and achievement that ERO are expecting them to meet," he said.

His reading of the changes goes further than ERO's. "Before, school A in the highest five percent of economic earners was being compared with school B down the road who's in the bottom five percent and expected to achieve the same outcomes. So that's not going to be reflected in the new reports anymore."

"If you completely ignore those factors and you expect everybody to achieve exactly the same, then you are actually ending up disadvantaging the most disadvantaged," Craggs said.

The Principals' Federation told RNZ the changes were a positive start, and a sign that ERO had been listening to feedback from the sector.

RNZ's report leaves several practical questions unanswered. It does not say how many schools were reviewed under the April format, how many have asked for an updated report, or when reports in the new format will start going out.