The performance of national education systems is a growing concern in many Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. This book focuses on the assessment of school performance in seven countries: England, France, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. The research questions include: Why are schools being judged? By what criteria? and How are they held accountable for their performance? Part I is comprised of five chapters which examine these issues, drawing on evidence from member countries. Chapter 1 looks at the pressures that have precipitated such changes and identifies some reasons for the current increased interest in the performance of schools as separate units. Chapter 2 examines the purposes of school evaluation, which are broadly categorized under accountability and school improvement. The main methods used for evaluating schools are examined in chapter 3. Followup steps taken after evaluation are described in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter compares national approaches in terms of the reasons for evaluation and the use of different methods. Four key messages emerge: (1) objective, external assessment and "friendly" advice from those acquainted with the school are equally important; (2) performance indicators should be related to the quality of a school's education; (3) simply making schools accountable is insufficient to improve performance, but desirable in terms of transparency and democracy in education; and (4) build on the expertise and professionalism of teachers to develop an unthreatening but demanding climate of self-review in schools. Part 2 summarizes the school-evaluation process and its relationship to the education system as a whole in each of the participating countries. Each country summary includes case studies of schools that have recently been involved in evaluation procedures. (Contains 19 references.) (LMI)