This article presents the results of two studies on the use of school self-evaluation in the Netherlands and Flanders. It focuses on which forms of instrumental use of school self-evaluation results can be found in schools, and how differences in self-evaluation use between schools can be explained. Results show that the instrumental use of self-evaluation results in both contexts was limited. Results further show that differences in the use of school self-evaluation results can be explained by differences in school organizational characteristics, implementation characteristics, and the characteristics of the school self-evaluation itself. Implications for theory, policy, and practice are discussed. (Contains 8 tables, 3 figures and 1 note.)