Janet McCarroll
Based in Tauranga and working across the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions, Janet is an experienced education consultant who specialises in developing assessment-capable students, teachers, leaders, and parents.
She is approved to deliver Ministry of Education PLD in the following areas:
Structured literacy approaches
Targeted and tailored structured literacy approaches
Assessment
Janet also works with schools in the following areas:
Assessment for learning
Teaching as inquiry
Mentoring and coaching school leaders and leadership teams
Supporting schools with e-asTTle
Learning-focused conversations
Data analysis and planning for improvement
As a Ministry-approved structured literacy approaches and assessment facilitator, Janet supports schools to strengthen assessment practice that goes beyond measuring achievement to supporting progress, giving kaiako and ākonga clear insights into what has been learned, what matters next, and how best to get there. Recently certified in structured literacy through Cox Campus, Janet helps schools to implement systematic phonics, vocabulary development, and comprehension strategies, underpinned by the science of learning principles such as cognitive load theory and retrieval practice.
Her expertise stems from her master's research (MPhil, Science Education, Curtin University, Perth), which explored student-centred approaches to assessment and self-reporting through e-portfolios. Janet has shared her research nationally and internationally, including as a Fulbright scholar presenting in Boston (2014) and at the International Conference on Thinking (ICOT) in Bilbao, Spain (2015).
Before joining Evaluation Associates | Te Huinga Kākākura Mātauranga, Janet spent 10 years as a deputy principal in a large urban school, also serving as acting principal and leading school-wide curriculum in literacy and mathematics. She was the Accelerating Literacy Learning (ALL) lead teacher and has facilitated Ministry of Education workshops on assessment, local curriculum, and e-asTTle. More recently, she has contributed to the writing team for the Leaders’ Guide to the Common Practice Model and the Facilitation Packs for the 2025 Curriculum Roadshow.
Janet champions student agency and critical learning conversations that enable ākonga to self-report on their progress, discuss achievement against agreed standards, and identify next steps with their teachers. She brings both research and practical experience to her work, supporting schools to embed assessment capability across systems and communities.
She has also completed training in Leading by Learning with Professor Viviane Robinson, and she holds Licentiate qualifications in Speech and Drama from Trinity College London and the New Zealand Speech Board, strengthening her expertise in oral language, literature, and prosody.
Outside of work, Janet enjoys gardening, reading, cooking, walking, and spending time with whānau and friends. She is passionate about good food, good wine, and everything Italian.
Blogs:
In this blog, Janet explores how educators can respond to AI with purpose by strengthening the human skills learners need most.
Empowering students to lead their own learning … online
In this blog, Janet explores how the refreshed English learning area in The New Zealand Curriculum (2024) positions reading aloud as a high-impact practice grounded in the curriculum.