Analysts at the Education Trust released a policy brief today suggesting Florida stands near the top of all states -- along with Delaware, Massachusetts and Texas -- in making the most progress in closing the achievement gap among races, a key component in applications for Race to the Top funds.

According to the report, Florida narrowed the gap among more groups of students than most other states. Florida also has a smaller than average gap than much of the rest of the nation, it shows.

Some of the worst track records, by contrast, belong to Arizona, California, Michigan, Mississippi and Rhode Island, the nonprofit think tank states. Ed Trust president Kati Haycock said in a news release that policy makers must look at several aspects of the achievement gap to ensure they best interpret the data to help all students.

"We can’t afford to let our education system fail yet another generation of young people simply because we refused to have honest, thorough conversations about where we stand or because we failed to do what’s necessary to get all students where they need to go," Haycock said. "That’s patently unfair, and it’s patently un-American."

(Image from coro.org)