n recent years the importance of strengthening evidence-based policy and practice in education is emphasized. The 2006 Spring European Council Conclusions stresses the need for an evaluation culture, and a more systematic use of evidence as a basis for the modernisation of education. The demand for data driven decision making is becoming evident across Europe. At the same time educational practitioners rarely have the capacity or opportunity to make fruitful use of existing information or knowledge in order to inform their work (Hargreaves, 1996; Hood, 2000; and more). School leaders are listed as a professional group for which a deeper evidence-based knowledge is needed (SEC (2007) 1098 Commission staff working document). Our experiences from comparative studies of school leader training in range of European countries indicated that working with data is not highly prioritize in existing programmes. The urge to enhance school leaders' competencies in the use of evidence to contribute to the improvement of educational practice is the basis for this project.

The general aim is to improve intelligent accountability of schools by developing school leaders' competencies in the use of evidence to contribute to the improvement of educational practice.

This should be reached by meeting the following two main objectives:
1) Developing a curriculum for a training module for school leaders focused on evidence based decision making
2) Develop a strategy of implementing the above mentioned module into the training of European school leaders

Within tis project a universally usable and locally/nationally adaptable knowledge-based competence training module for school leaders will be developed, piloted and disseminated. Furthemore, the project intends to develop a strategy of its implementation in the countries involved and wider. This way, both the groups of school leaders and groups of leadership trainers will be affected by the project.