With changes underway for School Board priorities and requirements, we thought it might be useful to revisit one of our research reports from earlier in the year, School Board leadership—Key issues 2025.
This report presents findings from a survey of 289 School Board members, representing around 10% of School Boards. We asked them questions about equity, attendance, assessment, climate change, and areas where they wanted development and learning. Here is what they said about equity.
What do school boards think about equity?
Most respondents were committed to equity in education, and thought their school is doing good work in this space. Most agreed or strongly agreed that:
- as a Board, our decisions reflect a strong commitment to equity in education (90%)
- I know what equity in education means and what it looks like in practice at my kura (89%)
- I am confident that my kura is addressing equity in its policies and practices (85%).
Replies to an open-ended question presented a more nuanced view of respondents’ perspectives on equity and suggested Boards and schools have a range of areas that could benefit from more support. The top three were:
- a need for more funding, resources, and PLD
- a need for more focus on community and diversity
- and a desire for more focus on student needs.
What do school boards want changed to improve equity?
Almost half of respondents (48%) replied to an open-ended question about equity: “One thing we could do differently at our school to improve equity would be ...”. Their responses centred on three main themes:
Theme 1: A need for more funding, resources, or PLD
Of those who responded, the most common theme was the need for more funding, resources, or PLD (40%). Within this wider theme, respondents noted they needed:
- more funding or resourcing in general
- more staff to assist students (e.g., teacher aides)
- greater shared understanding of equity or more PLD for the Board and staff.
Theme 2: A need for more focus on community and diversity
The second common theme was the need for more focus on community and diversity (30%). Within this theme, respondents noted they would like to see:
- improved engagement and collaboration with whānau, their community, or students
- more focus on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, iwi connections, or culturally responsive approaches
- a more diverse or quality Board or staff.
Theme 3: A desire for more focus on student needs
The third theme was a desire for more focus on student needs (28%). Within this broad theme, respondents noted they would like more:
- focus on diversity for all students
- focus on addressing disadvantage (e.g., costs like uniforms)
- appropriate assessments, supports, or referrals for individuals
- focus on addressing absenteeism or behaviour concerns.
Most – but not all – School Boards are focused on equity
Only a few Board members were not focused on equity. Two smaller themes were mentioned by 5% of respondents including a need for better systems such as forward planning, and statements that indicated that some respondents were not clear about the meaning of equity in education.
For the full findings from our survey of School Boards, click here to read the full report.