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A national progress report shows the achievement gap for Florida students continues to decrease. As Matt Horn reports minority students are still performing at substantially lower levels than their white counterparts.

A national report card on Florida’s education system shows the achievement-level of students increasing, while the performance gap for minorities is getting smaller.

“We’re very very excited by the progress we’ve made in the state of Florida. We are celebrating that victory,” said Juhan Mixon, Florida Association of School Administrators.

One of the biggest tests for educators is closing the achievement gap between white and black students and between white and Hispanic students.

“It’s a priority in classrooms and school districts around the state that every child get a year worth of knowledge in a year time,” said Joe Follick, Florida Department of Education.

Since 1992 – the gap between white and black students has closed significantly quicker than the gap between white and Hispanic students. In Math – the performance gap decreased by 11 percent in the last 20 years.

“It was not surprising, that our Hispanic students and African American students are closing the achievement gap faster than most states,” said Mixon.

The only minority to outperform their white counterparts is Asian students. Overall, the percentage of students performing at or above basic continues to increase.

“We have made significant change in the environment in this state in learning,” said Mixon.

The Department of Education continues to stress family involvement to help student’s performance.

“We try to spread the word with the districts around the state about mentoring opportunities, after school opportunities,” said Follick. “That’s some of the key factors as well.”

Not only are test schools showing a smaller gap in achievement – more minorities are graduating from high school.