Reading literacy is the main focus of theinternational comparative study of PISA 2009 (OECD,PISA 2009 results: What students know and can do: Stu-dent performance in reading, mathematics and science,2010a) based on the results of which 65 economies werearranged in a league table. PISA also gathers backgroundinformation which implicitly helps understand theachievement or the lack of it. The present study analyzesdata of selected variables for four East Asian economies(Shanghai, Hong Kong, Korea, and Singapore) whichappear at the top of the league table, paying specialattention to the ESCS (Economic, Social, and CulturalStatus) disadvantaged students who are resilient in spite ofbeing in an unfavorable condition. Logistic regression wasrun on the data to identify the predictive variables. Familystructure, expected education, kindergarten attendance, andthree reading engagement measures were found to differ-entiate between the ESCS disadvantaged and non-disad-vantaged students. To help raise the reading literacystandard of the disadvantaged non-resilient students rela-tive to the resilient students, attention needs be paidespecially to enjoyment of reading activities and awarenessof metacognitive reading strategies, which are alterablevariables at the disposal of the stakeholders.

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• Predicting Academic Resilience with Reading Engagementand Demographic Variables: Comparing Shanghai, Hong Kong,Korea, and Singapore from the PISA Perspective