The clash of evaluations In search of the missing link between school accountability and school improvement – experiences from Cyprus Stefan Brauckmann DIPF, German Institute for International Educational Research, Berlin, Germany, and Petros Pashiardis Open University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus Abstract Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to examine more closely the tension between, on the one hand, forms of internal school improvement based on internal evaluation measures and, on the other hand, control and legitimisation needs grounded on external evaluation measures. Design/methodology/approach – The clash of these forms of evaluation is at the core of the paper, dealing in particular with the changing evaluation systems in the Cypriot education system. Therefore, the case study approach is utilised here. More specifically, the case of Cyprus is used as a system under transition in order to move from a primarily teacher inspection system, which is externally driven, to a combination of a teacher/school inspection system, which is based on both external and internal processes and is directed at both formative and summative evaluation processes. Findings – It is asserted that the new proposed appraisal system for Cyprus addresses the deficiencies of the current evaluation system and generally aims at achieving a balance between external and internal processes. Finally, the conditions for the acceptance and successful implementation of new evaluation systems are described. Originality/value – The results of the study constitute a rich setting of future developments for Cyprus schools with regard to important issues such as school accountability, school improvement, teacher evaluation, internal school evaluation and external inspection, through the proposed appraisal system. Therefore, the paper provides an important source of information for those who have the responsibility of creating educational policy and planning for the years to come in the area of teacher appraisal. Keywords Schools, Quality improvement, Teachers, Performance appraisal, Cyprus Paper type Conceptual paper 1. Why do we care about school evaluation/inspection? In the past 15 years, there has been an increased emphasis on policies designed to affect large-scale change across school systems at the district, state, or national levels. Competitiveness-driven educational reforms became commonplace across rich and poor nations, as governments sought to defend their global competitiveness by The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0951-354X.htm This paper refers to the education system of the Republic of Cyprus. The Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus are not included for reasons beyond the authors’ control. Further, this paper relies on the following unpublished manuscript about the current state of international research on this area: “Prozess- und Wirkungsanalyse im Bereich der Schulinspektion/Externen Evaluation” (Bos, 2007). IJEM 24,4 330 International Journal of Educational Management Vol. 24 No. 4, 2010 pp. 330-350 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0951-354X DOI 10.1108/09513541011045263