One of the greatest and most significant challenges currently facing the education system on a global scale, is the digital transformation (European Union, 2020; Heinen & Kerres, 2017; Labusch, Eickelmann & Conze, 2020). A meaningful integration and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) takes on a special role in this endeavor. The emphasis is always on the requirement to prepare students for a digitally shaped world by means of suitable measures. In systemic terms, this is a school development task that, in a holistic understanding, encompasses sustainable and continuous measures and changes at all levels of the school as well as (new) challenges for the groups of actors within it (Eickelmann & Gerick, 2017; Heinen & Kerres, 2017). In order to implement ICT in schools in such a comprehensive and sustainable way, an empowerment approach seems to be particularly promising (Copland, 2003; Schildkamp et al., 2016). Self-evaluation processes can support this transformation process concerning the digitalization of individual schools. However, experience with this approach is still scarce.

In Germany, the federal governance structure of the educational system and related decision-making processes on federal level complicate and prolong change processes in the educational system. At the same time, change processes such as the digital transformation must be planned for the long term, aligned with the logics and capabilities of the individual schools and the stakeholders involved (Hinterhuber et al., 2021). In addition, such change processes should be continuously evaluated to ensure successful implementations as part of the school development. According to Rolff (2010, 2016), school development should integrate processes within the triad of personnel, organizational and instructional dimensions. The design of digitalization-related school development extends these requirements for school development processes by two additional dimensions: technology and cooperation development (Eickelmann & Gerick, 2017).

In order to ensure the quality of a largely autonomous school, various concepts can be found, which are particularly characterized by external and internal evaluation processes (Kolbe, 2010; Rolff & Bastian, 2002). The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of a continuous self-evaluation process of a school in digital transformation and its impact on implementing ICT. The study focuses on the following research questions:

1. Which change processes regarding the implementation of educational technologies can be fostered by a self-evaluation tool in the course of the digital transformation?
2. How does a self-evaluation tool regarding the implementation of ICT affect the dimensions of school development?

The goal of an evaluation is the systematic collection of data and information in order to assess school and teaching practice in an evidence-based manner. By means of an extensive case study (Yin, 2018), the process of implementing a self-evaluation tool at a school was accompanied and analyzed with a combination of methods. In the context of the case study, parallel to the implemen-tation of the self-evaluation tool itself, multi-episodic interviews were conducted with different school stakeholders (school management, IT officer, teachers, parents). From the large number of availa-ble self-evaluation tools (e.g. IFS School Barometer, SEIS, QUES, SEP), the digital SELFIE tool (Self-reflection on Effective Learning by Fostering the Use of Innovative Educational Technologies) was chosen to meet the school's objectives and requirements and to take into account the use of educational technologies. SELFIE is a self-evaluation tool for schools that focuses on the use of digital technologies (SELFIE, 2022). The aim of the tool is to identify strengths and weaknesses in the use of digital technologies in teaching, learning and assessment. The tool is one of the eleven initiatives of the EU Commission, which were recorded in the Digital Education Action Plan (Euro-pean Union, 2020). The content of SELFIE is based on the DigCompOrg Framwork model (Digital Competencies for Educational Organizations). A total of four people from the (extended) school management, 35 teachers, and 226 students par-ticipated in the self-evaluation process during the period June 7-18, 2021. In addition, seven individ-uals were interviewed at two points in time (03.05.-27.07.) using semi-structured interviews with a focus on the attitude and impact of the self-evaluation process. The results of the interviews were triangulated in connection with the results of the written survey and evaluated under consideration of the five school development dimensions by means of qualitative content analysis according to Mayring (2015) and Kuckartz (2014).

According to several interviewees, the SELFIE tool was able to reveal gaps or weaknesses in the school's current status with regard to its implementation of ICT within the digital transformation. The SELFIE application initiated concrete development processes, e.g. the addressing of development points/gaps (Interview_Leadership1) and the triggers/enforcers of digital advancement (Interview_IT officer). In addition, as one result the school integrated concrete measures (e.g., regarding the school's own media curriculum) into their 5-year plan. With regard to the school development dimensions, various impact levels were deduced in the course of the implementation of SELFIE, whereby these related in particular to the development of teaching and the perception of ICT. Central to this was the analysis of how they are being used in the classroom. This reflected the results of the self-evaluation survey with regard to the implemen-tation within the classroom, where the greatest discrepancies between the groups of actors emerged. The results also showed that regarding personnel and organizational development, a lack of time and low digital competence among teachers were the biggest obstacles in the course of the digital transformation. In addition, the interviews revealed conflicting assessments and prioritizations of the topics (school leadership vs. teachers). Finally, the potential of educational technologies in terms of cooperation development was emphasized both in the self-evaluation and in the interviews. Overall, this study shows how a self-evaluation process can support the digital transformation of schools, but it also highlights instructive, generalizable challenges during this process.

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