This article investigates whether the proportion of pupils in schools whose families have immigrated from the former Soviet Union or Turkey has an independent effect on students' reading competence. The data base consists of a subsample of 14.169 students from the PISA-E 2003 assessment. Multi-level analyses show that, controlling for a number of individual and composition characteristics, the proportion of students whose parents came from the former Soviet Union is not associated with reading competence. For the proportion of students whose families have immigrated from Turkey, in contrast, a significant negative relationship was found. At 22 points on the PISA scale, this effect is particularly pronounced in schools from the lower track (Hauptschulen) where the proportion of student with a Turkish background is 40% or higher. The prediction that composition effects associated with students' immigrant backgrounds would be mediated by their native languages, however, was not corroborated.

Composition effects Students from the former Soviet Union Immigrant students Students with Turkish backgrounds Disparities in school success PISA ethnic background Immigration

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