FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The improvement of Kentucky students in assessments of reading, math and science in the past 20 years has placed the state in a tie for fifth place in a report from Harvard University.

The report is designed to show U.S. progress in closing the international education gap and estimates gains from 1995 to 2009 for the U.S. and 48 other countries. It also examines changes in student performance in 41 states between 1992.