The article attempts to analyse the notions of school culture and school climate as well as their definitions, scopes and the applied research approaches. Although such activities have been undertaken and presented both in English and German literature, they have failed to constitute a separate field of analysis in Poland and as such, have been merely addressed on the margins of other problems. In this article, the author points out the positions of researchers who have identified the need to clarify the separate identity of the notions and for this purpose, to adopt appropriate research approaches, often leading, as the author attempts to illustrate, to diverse conclusions.

The article analyses the concept of data, presents various purposes of working with data in schools and deals with the readiness of people at school to work with data. In the final part the article summarizes selected results of a pilot survey carried out in Czech schools and abroad, focused on finding out how and with what data schools work, which attitudes school leaders adopt towards this activity, how those respondents evaluate their own readiness for work with data and which needs they express in this respect.

This paper is focused on peer review used by schools as a potential means of support for mutual learning and the development of staff professionalism. It is based on empirical material obtained from The Road to Quality Improvement1, a Czech national project designed to support self-evaluation in schools. Data from 32 schools were collected by questionnaire surveys, interviews, focus groups and document analysis. Main findings are as follows: (1) a prerequisite for successful peer review is previous experience of evaluation activities and work with data; (2) peer review develops participants’ sensitivity in terms of the need for the development of evaluation skills; (3) evaluation activities and work with data develop participants’ professionalism and their potential to contribute to school development.