HANNIBAL (WGEM) -The Nation’s Report Card reports in 2024 the average reading score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress was 10 points lower than when the assessment was first created in 1992.

While many schools across the country have been seeing a decline in reading skills, staff at Mark Twain Elementary said they have been focusing heavily on reading skills and have actually seen improvement since last year.

Tomi Lowes, Mark Twain Elementary principal, said by the end of last year, the kindergarten class had about 80% of their students on target for their reading skills, which she said is a very good number. She said putting a focus on reading at a young age helps students be better readers in the future.

“Reading is our basic thing just to even be able to function in l

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