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ATTLEBORO - African-American students have made strides in improving their math skills in Attleboro, but more work is needed to close an achievement gap with white students, a new report has found.

The report by Boston's Black Parent Alliance found that Attleboro schools are about in the middle of the pack, compared with similar communities in the size of the gap between white students and African-American pupils on math tests.

Of 25 communities in the study judged to have moderate home values, Attleboro came in 11th with a gap of 22 points.

The gap is based on the difference in the percentage of white and black children scoring proficient in math on the state MCAS test.

The city was rated near Braintree and Medford in the size of its gap. Attleboro also scored eighth among the same communities in the percentage of African-Americans reaching the proficient level in math. Proficient is the second highest ranking on MCAS scores, above needs improvement and below advanced.

Bridgewater-Raynham and Easton had similar scores.

Justin Sallis, a spokesman for the group that conducted the study, said the intent of the survey is to bring attention to the fact that African-Americans are not doing as well in school as they should, compared with whites.

Sallis said his hope is the study will encourage parents to get involved and lobby for schools to develop plans to close the achievement gap.

"I'd like to see the phones of every school superintendent ringing off the hook," he said.

Attleboro Superintendent Pia Durkin said every school in Attleboro has an improvement plan that includes "a roadmap" for improving the performance of all students.

She said MCAS is a helpful tool in measuring achievement, but the tests are like an "autopsy," in that they tell you after the fact what is wrong.

Attleboro has initiated regular assessments during the school year, similar to a medical check up to detect problems early, she said.

The plans include "prevention, intervention and remediation," she said.

The schools are also getting a new math curriculum because 30 percent of all Attleboro students in grades 3 through 8 are not doing well in math, she said. Math scores among African-American students are on the rise, she said, but more work is needed.

In 2006, some 29 percent of African Americans got a warning on their MCAS math scores, 42 percent were listed as needs improvement and 30 percent were proficient. Last year the scores improved to 17 percent warning, 50 percent needs improvement, and 33 percent proficient.

Durkin said, however, the goal for all students should be to score in the advanced category.

She said the message from teachers to students should be: "This is important. You can do it. I'm not going to give up on you."

Durkin said the report is useful and is easily read by parents, but studies have limitations.

For instance, in Attleboro there are some grades with too few African-American students for the MCAS to separate them out as a subgroup.

There is also a lot of overlap among subgroups, she said. In Attleboro, the low-income subset includes minorities and special education students, she said.

Sallis said the message of the study is that school district needs to have a specific plan to address the problem and the plan should be easily accessible to the public.

Attleboro, he said, does not make its plan available on its Web site.

The report singles out Brookline for having a good plan that appears to be effective.

Brookline's "Equity Plan" is on the school district's Web site, and calls for tutoring, support for inclusive classrooms, after-school programs and parent outreach.