Purpose: While recognizing networking as a powerful means of school turnaround, most studies focus on governments' and schools' roles in promoting collaborative turnaround rather than the complexity of external providers and their behaviors. This study explores multiple external providers' complex roles in networked school turnaround. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed a qualitative case study approach and collected data through document analysis, observation and interviews in a Shanghai public junior secondary school's turnaround network. Findings: This study revealed three patterns in external providers' interactions with the school (direction leader, solution supplier and method instructor) corresponding to three types of external providers (universities, private enterprises and public institutions). While providing support at different levels (i.e. macro, meso and micro), different external providers shared common strategies for addressing policy requirements and school needs and co-constructing turnaround strategies. Originality/value: This study offers new insights into external providers' supporting roles in Chinese school turnaround and expands the scant international knowledge base on external providers in educational improvement.