The purpose of the study was to design a metacognition-oriented programme and to test its effectiveness in developing reading of Egyptian secondary school students. The sample of the study consisted of 140 students including both  males and females distributed randomly between the experimental and control groups. Statistical analyses indicated that there were no significant differences between the mean scores of the students of the two groups in the pre-administration of the test. Significant differences were found between the mean scores of the students of the two groups in the post administration of the test in favour of those of the experimental. There were significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental-group students in the pre and post administrations of the test in favour of the post. No significant differences were found between the mean scores of the control-group students in the pre and post administrations of the test. Similarly, no significant differences were found between the mean scores of males and females in the experimental group in the post administration of the test. The programme proved to be effective with a gain ratio of 1.01.