Fewer elementary students in D.C. Public Schools passed the city’s annual math and reading exams in 2010, according to a report released Tuesday by schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Mayor Adrian Fenty.

About 44 percent of the students passed, down more than 4 percent from 2009.

But where the younger kids fell short, their counterparts in secondary schools soared. Middle and high school students’ pass rates rose more than 3 percent in reading and more than 4 percent in math.

Overall, elementary and secondary students have seen pass rates go up over the course of Rhee’s three-year tenure. Gains range from 7 percent in elementary school reading to a 17 percent gain in secondary school math over the past three years.

“I am proud of the progress our students and teachers have made over the past three years, but as evidenced from the dip in elementary schools scores this year, we still have a long way to go,” Rhee said.