This study explores how distributed leadership influences student reading achievement in Turkish high schools, with the mediating role of teacher professional practices and self-efficacy. After assembling school- and student-level data from the datasets of The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 and The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, we conducted a multilevel structural equation model (MSEM) using the estimation method of Maximum Likelihood to analyse the structural links among our variables. The results revealed that distributed leadership had a significant indirect association with student reading achievement via teacher professional practices and teacher self-efficacy. This study adds nuance to the literature by indicating that distributed leadership can make a difference in student achievement by promoting teachers' engagement in professional practices and their self-efficacy.