ABSTRACT
Professional development becomes a condition of professional accountability. The extended professional is concerned with locating his classroom teaching in a broader educational context, comparing his work with that of other teachers, evaluating his own work systematically, and collaborating with other teachers. If teachers regard themselves as professionally accountable to themselves and their colleagues then they have accepted a commitment to the maintenance and improvement of their practice. If a narrower interpretation of accountability is adopted, one more closely associated with contractual accountability, then the case for considering the relationship between evaluation and professional development, as a separate issue, is strengthened. The proposition that professional development assumes a concept of professionalism appears tautological. Evaluation in the context of professional development and educational improvement refers to the monitoring of practice in order to diagnose problems and develop, implement and evaluate remedies, or to assure oneself that all is well.
