School reconstitution has a major impact only in the first year

School reconstitution, a turnaround strategy that prescribes massive staffing turnover, is expected to result in more committed and capable school staff and innovative practices. However, little evidence supports this assumption.

This study assesses the impact of reconstitution on student achievement and teacher mobility, finding that reconstitution affected teacher mobility and improved student achievement in the first year of the reform, with continued but smaller impacts in the out years.

The authors find that initial re-staffing and strategic planning may have promoted balance between exploring new and exploiting existing knowledge. Over time, however, balanced, mutual learning was not sustained.