BOISE - Reading scores for Idaho's fourth- and eighth-graders were slightly better than the national average last year, but students in both groups also failed to show improvement over 2007.

The scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often referred to as the nation's report card, were compiled from a series of federally funded achievement tests and released Wednesday.

On a 500-point scale, the average reading score for Idaho fourth graders was 221, a slight decrease compared to the 223 average score for students who took the test two years ago.

The 2009 average score for eighth-graders was 265, unchanged from 2007.

Nationwide, the reading tests were given to 178,000 fourth-graders and 160,900 eighth-graders. Scores for both groups of students held mostly steady, with improvements seen in a handful of states and among low-income students.

Hispanics in Idaho's fourth and eighth grades continued to perform below their non-Hispanic classmates on the reading tests, with average scores that were 24 points lower in the fourth grade and 28 points behind in the eighth-grade, but this is also an achievement gap that has not changed significantly since at least 2002, the scores show.

In 2002, the state had roughly 26,966 Hispanic students who made up more than 10 percent of the 248,000 students then in Idaho's K-12 population. At the beginning of the current school year, Latinos accounted for 41,368 students in Idaho and made up more than 15 percent of the 276,000 students in public schools.

The Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs has driven efforts in recent years to close the achievement gap between Hispanic students and their non-Hispanic classmates on statewide standardized tests. The agency released a study in 2008 that showed Hispanic students were scoring significantly lower than other kids in reading, math and language.

Last year, a state task force was assembled to investigate how Idaho can better educate its growing population of Hispanics. The group was charged with creating a multiyear plan to eliminate the stark achievement gap, slow a high school dropout rate that is higher than any other ethnic group in Idaho and bolster college access for Hispanic students.

The commission is poised to release that report in July and, despite significant budget woes, will continue to spearhead efforts to close the gap, said Juan Saldana, a records specialist at the agency.

The commission faces an 11 percent cut in state funding during the next fiscal year, and that's after lawmakers opted against the governor's plan to wean the agency and others off state money by 2014, starting with a 25 percent cut.

"We're still moving forward," Saldana said. "We're not going to let the budget hold us back on that."