Vote Education Review Office - Education Sector - Estimates 2016/2017

Overview of the Vote#

The Minister of Education is responsible for appropriations in the Vote for the 2016/17 financial year covering the following:

• a total of over $24 million for evaluations of early childhood education service providers, schools and other education service providers

• a total of over $3 million for education evaluations, policy services, ministerial and contractual services, and

• a total of nearly $1 million in departmental capital expenditure.

Details of these appropriations are set out in Parts 2-4.

Details of Appropriations and Capital Injections#

Annual and Permanent Appropriations#

Capital Injection Authorisations#

Supporting Information#

Part 1 - Vote as a Whole#

1.1 - New Policy Initiatives

1.2 - Trends in the Vote#

Summary of Financial Activity#

Note - where restructuring of the vote has occurred then, to the extent practicable, prior years information has been restated as if the restructuring had occurred before the beginning of the period covered. In this instance Total Appropriations for the Budgeted and Estimated Actual year may not equal Total Appropriations in the Details of Appropriations and Capital Injections.

Adjustments to the Summary of Financial Activity Table Due to Vote Restructuring#

There have been no restructuring adjustments to prior year information in the Summary of Financial Activity table.

1.3 - Analysis of Significant Trends#

Vote ERO contains appropriations for output expenses and capital expenditure.

From 2011/12 to 2015/16 total departmental output expense appropriation levels for outputs supplied by ERO were steady, including:

• a decrease in 2015/16 and outyears arising from ERO's contribution to the Budget 2015 System Package agreed by Cabinet

• an increase in 2015/16 due to higher levels of contractual services

• an increase in 2012/13 to 2014/15 for additional evaluations of schools that are non-compliant with National Standards

• a decrease in 2012/13 due to the efficiency savings target agreed by Cabinet to drive down costs of core government administration while maintaining the quality and quantity of public services.

There are no significant trends in capital expenditure appropriation levels.

Part 2 - Details of Departmental Appropriations#

2.1 - Departmental Output Expenses#

Quality of Education Reports and Services (M26)

Scope of Appropriation

Expenses and Revenue

What is Intended to be Achieved with this Appropriation

This appropriation is intended to achieve improvements in learner outcomes by influencing and informing on the development and implementation of education policy and practices through ERO's system-wide evaluations.

How Performance will be Assessed and End of Year Reporting Requirements

Education evaluations provide information on significant education issues and education sector performance. In particular, ERO will provide information for individual schools, communities and the Government on how well schools are assisting their students to achieve educational standards and qualifications, using assessment, and promoting the educational success of students, particularly Maori and Pacific. This information will be used by government education policy agencies to determine the effectiveness of current initiatives and to establish priorities, and by schools and early childhood education services in their own internal evaluation. Education evaluations include guides to good practice. The information for these evaluations is gathered from the institutional evaluations carried out by ERO.

ERO uses the State Services Commission's Kiwi Count survey to assess the level of public satisfaction with ERO's evaluation work. ERO also commissions sample studies to ascertain the extent to which particular evaluations are found useful and used by key audiences.

Policy services involve advice to, or on behalf of, the Minister of Education, on policy proposals or any other issues referred to, or identified by, the Chief Executive. ERO is not primarily a provider of policy advice. From its regular presence in schools and early childhood services it is, however, in a position to make a useful contribution to assist the policy agencies. This service will contribute to the Government's policy priorities for schools and early childhood education service.

Ministerial services include the provision of oral briefings and briefing papers to the Minister, preparation of answers to parliamentary questions, drafting of ministerial correspondence and speech notes, and responding to general and official information requests. Ministerial services also include advice to the Minister on the implementation of recommendations arising from institutional evaluations and education evaluations, or any other matter on which the Minister seeks additional information or feedback.

Contractual services include additional one-off evaluations outside ERO's normal work programme. These may be requested at short notice to look at particular matters under specific terms of reference. Contractual services are conducted on a fee for service basis.

Policy services, ministerial and contractual services are subject to external demand factors making these activities difficult to forecast. No assessments of performance have been reported for these services as these activities only account for less than 10% of ERO's total Vote and therefore are not deemed to be material.

End of Year Performance Reporting

Performance information for this appropriation will be reported by ERO in its Annual Report to be tabled in the House.

Current and Past Policy Initiatives

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The decrease in this appropriation for 2016/17 is mainly due to lower revenue levels for contractual services compared to 2015/16.

2.3 - Departmental Capital Expenditure and Capital Injections#

Education Review Office - Capital Expenditure PLA (M26)#

Scope of Appropriation

Capital Expenditure

What is Intended to be Achieved with this Appropriation

This appropriation is intended to achieve the renewal and replacement of ERO's assets that supports the delivery of its services.

How Performance will be Assessed and End of Year Reporting Requirements

ERO is not a capital intensive department. Assets are purchased according to a planned assets replacement programme to maintain and upgrade capability essential to the operation of ERO. The major areas of capital investment for ERO are office accommodation, motor vehicles and computer equipment.

End of Year Performance Reporting

Performance information for this appropriation will be reported by ERO in its Annual Report to be tabled in the House.

Reasons for Change in Appropriation

The decrease in this appropriation for 2016/17 is mainly due to a building re-fit in ERO's new Auckland premise in 2015/16.

Capital Injections and Movements in Departmental Net Assets

Education Review Office

Part 4 - Details of Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure#

Multi-Category Expenses and Capital Expenditure#

Accountability Reviews (M26)

Overarching Purpose Statement

Scope of Appropriation

Expenses, Revenue and Capital Expenditure

What is Intended to be Achieved with this Appropriation

This appropriation is intended to achieve improvements in learner outcomes by using evaluation to influence and inform schools and early childhood services, while assuring the Government and communities of the quality of education provided.

How Performance will be Assessed for this Appropriation

What is Intended to be Achieved with each Category and How Performance will be Assessed

ERO recognises an education evaluation as an output at the time it is available for delivery to the Minister of Education. Partially complete evaluations are not reported.

ERO's Manual of Standard Procedures is a framework used by reviewers so that there is consistency nationally in undertaking evaluations. It describes the processes to be followed, the evaluation indicators to be used, and the accepted principles of good practice for conducting evaluations. The Manual of Standard Procedures also set out quality standards relating to the investigation and reporting processes, and to the content, presentation and timeliness of evaluations. It also describes the quality management procedures to be applied systematically within ERO.

From time to time, ERO will undertake external reviews to give the Chief Executive assurance on the extent to which education evaluations are meeting its quality standards in addition to using a moderation panel.

Communities of Learning are part of the Investing in Educational Success initiative. To support this initiative, ERO provides a report for each Community of Learning to assist them in developing their 'achievement challenges' to complement the data profiles that the Ministry of Education will provide. Each ERO report will give an overview of how well schools are performing based on their recent reporting history and is tailored for each Community of Learning regarding the strengths and areas that they could consider for improved outcomes. The number of reports required will depend on the number of Communities of Learning approved by the Minister of Education.

End of Year Performance Reporting

Performance information for this appropriation will be reported by ERO in its Annual Report to be tabled in the House.

Current and Past Policy Initiatives