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Turnaround schools account for 20 to 30%of the total number of Chinese schools(Yang,2013),but there is a lack of sufficient empirical research on how these schools have been effectively transformed from a district leadership perspective.This study explored how Chinese district leaders improve turnaround schools through building cross-school knowledge community.Built on Craigs definition of knowledge communities and Leithwoods transformational leadership theory(Leithwood,2012; Leithwood & Sun,2012),this study explored how Chinese district leaders transformed turnaround schools through building cross-school development communities in Shanghai.An exploratory case study method was applied in this study.Semi-structured interviews were used to conduct data collection,and analysis of publicly accessible documents at the district and school level was implemented for triangulation.Ten district leaders and 12 school administrators participated in this exploratory study that examined how district leadership is displayed in the process of building cross-school communities.Results and conclusions/points of view.This research identified four categories of leadership practices that have been employed by Chinese district leaders to build up cross-school development communities and transform turnaround schools.These leadership practices include setting a clear vision and goals for cross-school development communities,establishing management structures in these communities,building up their management mechanisms,implementing the rotation of school principals and teachers,balancing resource distribution among schools,guiding school professional development,supervising effective classrooms,establishing common evaluation guidelines across schools,facilitating cross-school academic activities,and facilitating the sharing of curriculum resources between schools.Additionally,challenges to initiating cross-school development communities were also identified.These included different management philosophies in different school management contexts,the ways in which district leaders and school leaders communicate,and the collaborative atmosphere.This study supplies an example of successful turnaround school transformation for others working in similar cultural contexts.