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SIGOURNEY, IOWA -- State officials were in the Heartland Wednesday to discuss ways to improve education.

Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds met education leaders in Sigourney. It was the third stop of a seven city Iowa education summit.

The focus is how to improve Iowa's overall education back towards the top of the nation where it once was. The leaders want to hear from education leaders.

Reynolds said innovation, putting in strong assessments, and teacher training will help.

"Iowa students saw among the slowest growth in the nation in 8th grade math and 4th grade reading in the last decade. And some people blame Iowa's rankings on national tests as a result of minority students struggling to learn. We need to do better at addressing the glaring achievement gap."

According to recent studies, Iowa has moved from one of the best states in education toward the national average in subjects like reading, math, and science.