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.
Abdullah, M. H. S., & Md Hassan, N. (2024). Negative implications of workload among teachers: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 13(3), 2515-2527. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v13-i3/22193
Berkovich, I. (2025). The rise of AI-assisted instructional leadership: Empirical survey of generative AI integration in school leadership and management work. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1643023. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1643023
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Bryk, A. S. (2020). Improvement in action: Advancing quality in America's schools. Harvard Education Press.
Carvalho, M., Cabral, I., Verdasca, J., & Alves, J. M. (2023). Teachers' perspectives on planning for school improvement: Processes, critical factors, and perceived outcomes. Revista Portuguesa de Educação, 36(2), e23029. https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.25152
Fullan, M. (2016). The new meaning of educational change (5th ed.). Teachers College Press.
Hakouz, A., & Zumpe, E. (2026). Understanding principals' perspectives about school improvement planning. Journal of Educational Administration, 64(1), 77-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-06-2025-0228
Hallinger, P. (2018). Bringing context out of the shadows of leadership. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 46(1), 5-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143216670652
Heenan, I. W., Lafferty, N., & McNamara, P. M. (2024). An applied approach to transformational leadership for whole school communities: Perspectives of primary school and system leaders. Societies, 14(12), 275. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14120275
Kalman, M., & Lundberg, A. (2026). School improvement capacity: A bottom-up investigation in Türkiye. Cogent Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2026.2641358
Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia. (2026). Rancangan Pendidikan Malaysia 2026-2035. Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia.
Kenayathulla, H. B., Ghani, M. F. A., & Radzi, N. M. (2024). Enhancing quality appointment, preparation and support system for Malaysian principals. Education Sciences, 14(6), 659. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14060659
Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2020). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited. School Leadership & Management, 40(1), 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1596077
Meyers, C. V., & VanGronigen, B. A. (2025). A systematic literature review on the development and implementation of school improvement plans (SIPs) around the world. Education Sciences, 15(12), 1708. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15121708
Meyer, A., Hartung-Beck, V., Gronostaj, A., Krüger, S., & Richter, D. (2023). How can principal leadership practices promote teacher collaboration and organizational change? A longitudinal multiple case study of three school improvement initiatives. Journal of Educational Change, 24(3), 425-455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-022-09451-9
Mohd Zabidi, Z., Abdullah, Z., & Sumintono, B. (2023). Exploring teacher collaboration: What's inside the Malaysian PLC black box? Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 8(4), 313-331. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-03-2023-0020
Nor, M. Y. M., Mansor, A. N., & Suliman, A. (2018). The practice of school-based management: Special reference to Malaysian clusters schools and UK autonomous schools. Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control System, 10(2-Special Issue), 1618-1626.
Pastore, S. (2026). Teacher data literacy: A scoping review (2020-2024). Cogent Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2025.2592397
Shamsuddin, F., & Ahmad Zabidi Abdul Razak. (2023). Development of a model for data-driven decision making: Critical skills for school leaders. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 8(12), e002614. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v8i12.2614
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
Viano, S., Shahrokhi, F., & Hunter, S. B. (2024). Improvement science and school leadership: The precarious path to dynamic school improvement. Frontiers in Education, 9, 1371664. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1371664
White, R., Lowery, C., & Johnson, J. (2025). Enhancing high-quality education through systemic school leadership: A systematic review. Quality Education for All, 2(1), 229-246. https://doi.org/10.1108/QEA-09-2024-0096
Yan, Z., Na, M., Alam, S. S., Masukujjaman, M., & Lu, Y. X. (2022). Teacher competencies and School Improvement Specialist Coaches Plus (SISC+) programme in Malaysia as a model for improvement of quality education in China. Sustainability, 14(23), 16273. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316273
Mujib, A. Z. F. B. A., & Alias, B. S. B. (2026). A Comparative Review of Principals’ and Teachers’ Perspectives on School Improvement Planning as a Strategic School Improvement Mechanism. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 15(3), 1590–1603.
Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
