The purpose of this study of school improvement planning in the southeastern USA was to establish the current view of the process through the eyes of the district superintendents. The answers to the questions were consistently mixed. Generally, the presence of school improvement planning is prevalent in the large majority of districts. However, the data indicate a lack of fidelity to the process between superintendents' beliefs regarding the process and how they perceive those tasked with development and implementation of the process. Given that school improvement planning is an internationally accepted process, the findings have implications not just for the USA but for international audiences as well. The authors make two recommendations: (1) significant further research into the effects of the process on student learning, and (2) continued research into the reasons for the lack of congruency indicated here between district expectations and school development and implementation.