An ERO report released yesterday evaluated how responsive each school's curriculum and systems were to the future plans of individual pupils, and how well secondary schools had prepared their pupils for future opportunities in education, training or employment.
The report, Secondary Schools: Pathways for Future Education, Training and Employment, is based on reviews of 74 secondary schools by the ERO last year, and found considerable variation.
Ten of the 74 secondary schools were considered to be responsive, 38 partially responsive, 23 had limited responsiveness, and three were found to be poor, the report showed.
ERO Evaluation Services acting national manager Stephanie Greaney said the report's key finding was pupils needed options that would suit their ability, interests and future plans, and they needed help with making choices.
''It's not enough that courses are available to students.
''A challenge for many secondary schools was that more innovation was needed to create the curriculum opportunities required by the range of students within a school.
''This innovation needs to apply more widely than the traditional academic pathways students might take.
''Sometimes this will mean connecting with local businesses or agencies to find the right pathway for a student. Or it might mean working closely with family or whanau to develop a suitable pathway,'' she said.
The ERO report noted the most responsive schools put considerable effort into ensuring teachers understood the goals of each pupil and designed programmes to help achieve these.
Top performing schools also had initiatives that encouraged pupils to develop leadership and self-management skills.
The report found vocational programmes such as Gateway, Youth Guarantee, work experience and other school and polytechnic programmes had a greater role in many secondary schools, and provided diverse ways for pupils to succeed.
However, ERO also noted some schools were seeing vocational programmes mainly as a way to increase qualifications for Maori and Pacific pupils, particularly for the boys.
Schools needed to develop academic courses focusing on Maori and Pacific pupils' interests and aspirations, the report recommended.
It also made several recommendations for the Ministry of Education.
Otago Secondary Principals' Association president Rick Geerlofs said the report would be a necessary wake-up call for many New Zealand secondary schools.
''Reports such as this are very helpful to schools because they challenge us to examine our own practices and ensure we are meeting the needs of all students.
''It's important that we provide pathways for students beyond school, whether that be study, the workplace, or a combination of the two. That's the challenge that this report presents.''
