Minnesota's students once again outperformed much of the nation on reading tests in 2009, but the achievement gap between black and white students hasn't budged in almost 20 years, according to test results released Wednesday.

The state's persistent, vexing achievement gap has become a long-term blemish on an otherwise good reputation for educational performance. The 2009 results of what's commonly called the "Nation's Report Card" show that Washington, D.C., is the only jurisdiction with a black-white gap statistically larger than Minnesota's in fourth grade, and that Connecticut is the only state with a larger gap in eighth grade, although some states didn't report enough data to be counted.

"Because our scores have remained real strong and steady, it kind of lets us feel like we're doing OK," said Education Commissioner Alice Seagren. "... But we really need to be concerned about our minority groups and the achievement gap."

The report card, officially titled the National Assessment of Educational Progress, shows that only three states outperformed Minnesota in reading by eighth-graders, and six outperformed the state in reading by fourth-graders.

The state is statistically tied with 23 states in fourth-grade and 15 states in eighth-grade. Minnesota's girls scored higher than its boys in both grades.

"We are really going to devote some significant additional money to trying to focus on our minority students and the achievement gap," Seagren said, "... and we're going to be looking at the whole continuum of schools, not only in elementary school, but middle and high school."

Last year, the Legislature voted to require prospective teachers, starting in 2012, to pass a test demonstrating that they know how to teach reading before they can receive a teaching license.

In addition, the state plans to use part of $34 million it recently received for the state's lowest-performing schools to improve reading instruction for the state's most at-risk students.