Background: Reading literacy is key for personal development and educational success. Previous studies have examined variables that influence and enhance development of reading literacy in specific contexts. However, there is no consensus about which teaching practices encourage development of reading in different settings. The aim of this study was to evaluate how educational strategies influence the development of reading literacy and to analyse their predictive capacity in various cultural, educational and social contexts.
Method: The study used data from 294,527 students from 37 countries collected as part of the PISA 2018 study. The data were analysed using an adaptation of the Difference in Differences methodology, which allowed us to isolate the effects of the factors on the acquisition of reading literacy.
Results: Students who enjoyed reading and explicitly used an effective reading strategy had reading scores that outperformed their mathematics results on the PISA scale by 4 to 9 points on average.
Conclusions: Identifying key factors in the acquisition of reading literacy—such as enjoyment of reading—and the use of effective strategies—such as summarizing texts—underscores the need for suitably targeted educational policies.