Edukacja 2015, 3(134), 5-25 ISSN 0239-6858 R eading skills are key to learning and indispensable as the “first step” to acquiring knowledge (Alvermann and Earle, 2003; Scharlach, 2008; Spoerer, Brunstein and Kieschke, 2009), thus reading develop- ment is often central to educational research. One of the most intensively studied aspects of reading in the last few decades has concerned learning strategies and methods (Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan and Willingham, 2013; Karpicke and Grimaldi, 2012). Today, even young learners are expected to compre- hend complex texts and answer complicated questions that call for independent interpre- tation and integration of numerous knowl- edge sources (Ortlieb, 2013). Therefore, how to enhance learners’ reading skills effectively is a more important research question now than ever before. Teaching learning strategies is often seen as a way to boost comprehension and © Educational Research Institute * Address: ul. Górczewska 8, 01-180 Warszawa, Poland. E-mail: m.muszynski@ibe.edu.pl Learning strategies and reading performance: PISA 2009 results for Poland Marek Muszyński Educational Research Institute* Maciej Jakubowski Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw Reading is oten central to educational research since its mastery is usually considered a prerequisite and vital to wider study. Reading gaps, however, are frequently reported, not only between countries, but also nationally (e.g., between boys and girls or students with diferent socio-economic backgrounds). his paper focuses on efective learning strategies that can help narrow those gaps. For new insight into the efective- ness of various reading strategies, the PISA 2009 data for Poland were analysed. he intention was to study association between diferent strategies and reading performance and its relation to gender, socio-economic background and reading achievement level. Using linear regression and quantile regression models, some strategies (e.g., summarising) were identiied as more efective and others were even counter-productive (e.g. memorisation). he observed efects varied between performance levels and according to gender, espe- cially for strategies negatively associated with performance. his evidence suggests that although some strat- egies may be of equal beneit to all learners, others are potentially harmful to certain groups of students. Keywords: education, cognitive psychology, metacognitive strategies, PISA data, reading. The article is an extended version of the presentation “Cognitive strategies and reading outcomes: analysis of the PISA 2009 results for Poland”, presented by the authors at the EduMetric 2014 International Seminar on Educational Research and Measurement, Cracow, Decem- ber 6–8. The seminar was organised by the Jagiellonian University, as part of the system level project “Quality and effectiveness of education – strengthening institutional research capabilities” carried out by the Educational Rese- arch Institute and co-financed by the European Social Fund (Human Capital Operational Programme 2007– –2013, Priority III High quality of the education system).