D.C. public school students continued their long climb from the bottom of the nation in reading skills last year, according to Wednesday’s release of the Nation’s Report Card.

While reading scores stayed about the same nationwide, D.C.’s public school and charter school students were among only a handful of jurisdictions to make significant gains. But even amid a six-year streak of increasing scores, the citywide average of 202 points of a possible 500 for fourth-graders remains well below the national average of 220. D.C.’s score is lower than that of any of the 50 states.