Among the factors that contributed to the good performance of Russian students in PIRLS and PISA (international comparative studies of education quality), considerable prominence is given to conditions unrelated to schools (the social context of the school; the family’s education potential, etc.). The question naturally arises: what is (or what can be) the school’s input in students’ achievements? If Russia’s success in PIRLS is largely attributed to reading policies in students’ homes, is it true that teaching strategies employed by elementary school teachers do not aff ect reading skills? The aim of this research is to study the role of the school in forming reading skills in elementary schoolchildren. The conclusions of the article are considered by the authors as hypotheses.