CLEVELAND -- Fourth- and eighth-graders in 10 urban impoverished school districts across the country are tested in math and reading every two years, and Cleveland students are among the best, reported ONN affiliate NewsChannel5's Debora Lee.

Cleveland eighth-graders made significant gains in math and reading on the 2007 nation's report card.

Fourth-grade reading scores are also up.

It's having an impact on the achievement gap, according to Cleveland's chief academic officer, Eric Gordon.

"While we still have an achievement gap we need to address, Cleveland students have the narrowest achievement gap for black and Hispanic students compared to their white counterparts," said Gordon.

For example, in eighth-grade math, white students scores 269 and black students scored 253, making the achievement gap 16 points in Cleveland. Nationally, the gap is 31.

For Hispanic students, the gap is 11 points, compared to 26 points nationally.

Gordon said the scores speak to the quality of teachers like Elaine Griffin, who brought reading scores up at Franklin D. Roosevelt Academy.

"We encourage them to implement non-fiction and poetry so they can do better on the test," said Griffin.

"We're showing growth and momentum, but we can't rest on that. We have to continue to seek the highest level of performance for every child," said Gordon.

Some of the other school districts that have students that take the tests are Los Angeles, Austin, Texas, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

Copyright 2007 by NewsNet5.