This study uses data from an European Project on school self-evaluation. A hundred and one schools experimented with self-evaluation and reported on what they did and what were the outcomes of the process. It is therefore possible to look at which characteristics of the process are associated with a positive appreciation of its effects. This analysis is conducted by confronting 2 general models of self-evaluation, named here the "technical" and the "participating" models. The 2 models are presented, then their ability to explain the success of a process of self-evaluation is compared. The explaining power of both models appears to show similarities, a result which makes it relevant to look at their optimal combination.