A Comparative Review of Principals' and Teachers' Perspectives on School Improvement Planning as a Strategic School Improvement Mechanism

School Improvement Planning (SIP) has become an important mechanism for translating strategic planning into school-level improvement by enabling schools to identify needs, establish priorities, implement interventions, and monitor progress. Its relevance is increasingly evident in Malaysia as the Ministry of Education (KPM) promotes differentiated school development through Focus Schools, Aspirational Schools, and Inspirational Schools, while the Malaysia Education Plan (RPM) 2026–2035 places greater emphasis on guided autonomy and strengthened institutional capacity. This article adopts a comparative review approach to examine principals' and teachers' perspectives on SIP, drawing primarily on Carvalho et al. (2023) and Hakouz and Zumpe (2026). The review compares how the two professional groups perceive the purposes, processes, and challenges of SIP implementation. The synthesis indicates that principals tend to emphasize strategic leadership, decision-making, resource allocation, stakeholder engagement, and monitoring, whereas teachers place greater emphasis on participation, professional learning, collaboration, and the practical implications of SIP for teaching and learning. Despite these differences, both perspectives converge on the importance of leadership, data use, and collaboration in supporting school improvement. Common challenges include limited time, bureaucratic demands, resource constraints, and uneven stakeholder involvement. The review concludes that SIP is most effective when principal leadership, teacher participation, and data-informed decision-making are integrated within a continuous improvement process. In the Malaysian context, SIP can serve as a complementary mechanism for translating national educational priorities into contextually relevant school improvement actions.