This PhD research focuses on the development and evaluation of a model in relation to School Autonomy in the Chinese setting and how this is related to principal and teacher variables. The study is set up in Chinese senior middle schools. Clear questions are asked about the impact on school performance. The following research questions are dealt with: RQ1: What levels of school autonomy can be distinguished in the Chinese high school context?; RQ2: What is the relationship between school autonomy, school leadership, teacher mediating variables (school climate, collective self efficacy), and teacher outcomes (organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, job satisfaction)? RQ3: What is the differential impact of control variables (SES, school size and province GDP) on the relationship between school principal, teacher team and teacher variables considering a specific level of school autonomy? RQ4: How is the complex interplay of school autonomy variables enriched with school academic capacity measures - related to average school performance? RQ5: How do schools experience differences in school autonomy?