In 2025, Te Arahou o Aotearoa—the Māori Achievement Collaborative (MAC) commissioned Te Wāhanga, the Māori research unit of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER), to evaluate the MAC kaupapa.
MAC is a nationwide kaupapa that provides professional learning and support for primary, intermediate, and secondary school principals. It was established in 2013 to help school leaders develop the conditions in which ākonga Māori can thrive and achieve success as Māori.
This evaluation came during the final phase of MAC’s Ministry of Education-funded cycle, and documents MAC’s development, contributions and impacts. It also identifies the conditions that support the kaupapa and sets out a Theory of Change showing how MAC is intended to influence leadership, schools, and outcomes over time.
He kitenga | Findings
The evaluation found that MAC provides a clear pathway through which changes in leadership practice contribute to changes in school environments and outcomes for ākonga Māori, students more broadly, whānau, and wider school communities.
The kaupapa is particularly valuable because of its “ripple effect”: learning initially centred on tumuaki extends to leadership teams, kaiako, ākonga, whānau, schools, and communities, and often travels with leaders into new kura and roles.
The strongest evidence concerns changes in leadership practice and school environments. Positive outcomes for ākonga Māori were consistently associated with these changes, while outcomes for whānau and non-Māori students were also evident. Although these shifts in outcomes cannot be solely attributed to MAC, the evidence indicates MAC has made an important contribution.
The evaluation highlights three central lessons:
- Skilled facilitation and sustained engagement are essential—significant personal, professional, and organisational change is unlikely to result from one-off professional development.
- Networks of relationships are critical to maintaining courageous and culturally sustaining leadership practice.
- Change occurs through a ripple effect across schools, communities, and leadership contexts.
The findings indicate the importance of protecting the kaupapa Māori, relational, and facilitator-led foundations of MAC; maintaining continuity and duration of engagement; sustaining peer networks and support for experienced participants; and investing in facilitator capability and succession. Further longitudinal and case-study research could strengthen understanding of how changes become embedded and contribute to longer-term outcomes.