Exploring the shift to an improvement-oriented approach to external evaluation in Aotearoa New Zealand

External evaluation in Aotearoa New Zealand is an important accountability mechanism in education. In 2019 the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce recommended that the Education Review Office (ERO) develop and implement an improvement-oriented approach to external evaluation in schools. This approach requires fundamental shifts in evaluation practice. In implementing an improvement-oriented approach, while maintaining accountability functions in a public sector context, evaluators need to balance key tensions: relational, epistemological, pedagogical, contextual, political, methodological, and organisational. The role of the evaluator in implementing ERO’s new approach, and managing the shifts required, is key to the approach’s success. Building evaluation capability and capacity and strengthening the evaluation evidence base are critical areas for further development.