Advancing the thesis that a student develops a schema for reading in the same manner as schemata for other classes of things, events, and situations are developed, this paper contends that knowledge of "what reading is" should have a potent influence on how and when a person utilizes reading skills and strategies to extract information from text. It describes how a student's schema for reading might develop and how an inappropriate schema for reading may be one factor contributing to ineffective reading comprehension performance. Next, it presents data consistent with this position along with a brief summary of other factors that affect reading comprehension performance. Some data gathered in pilot research are also discussed, together with an explanation of an improved methodology for assessing students' schemata for reading. Finally, the paper suggests some directions for future research and how this research might affect education. (Appendixes contain copies of questionnaires and passages used in the pilot study and tables of data.) (Author)