FRANKTON — For Brett Crider, ISTEP testing is nothing to fear.

In September, the sixth-grader at Frankton Elementary School scored 602 on the English portion and 674 on the math portion of the test. He’s confident that he can score well again in the second set of ISTEP tests in the spring.

“It was fairly easy,” said Crider, 12.

But Crider is the exception, not the rule. When the Indiana Department of Education released ISTEP scores on Thursday, the results were decidedly mixed for Frankton schools, part of Frankton-Lapel Community Schools.

Scores were up among third-, fifth- and seventh-graders, but down for fourth-, sixth-, eighth- and 10th-graders. Just 60 percent of Crider’s sixth-grade classmates passed both sections of the test, down from 71 percent in 2007.

Frankton third-graders, meanwhile, improved their scores on both portions of the test, as well as the overall passing rate, which rose to 78 percent.

“For the first six weeks, we do a lot of intense review,” said Susanne Shiveley, a Frankton third-grade teacher. “’Congruence,’ ‘symmetry,’ these are words the kids haven’t heard all summer.”

Administrative assistant Karen Richardson said teachers of all grades received a packet of learning materials from the Department of Education the second week of school. They may incorporate as much or as little as they feel is necessary.

Kathy Stoops, another third-grade teacher, said Frankton’s Cornerstone computer program has helped students improve. Held four times per week for students in grades 3-6, it allows students to move at their own pace through interactive material.

She said ISTEP testing can be daunting for her students.

“For third-graders, it’s their first time taking a paper-and-pencil test,” Stoops said. “These are 8-year-olds who have never filled in bubbles before. They weren’t thrilled about taking it the first time, and they’re not going to like it when they have to take it again.”

That goes for the staff at Frankton Elementary School, too. Fifth-graders improved their overall passing rate to 81 percent, but teacher Tifinie Voiles is still on guard.

“Sometimes ISTEP will throw us a curve,” Voiles said. “They’ll tweak it. They’ll use different terminology from what we teach. So it’s always that fear of the unknown.”

Crider has been moved into Frankton’s “higher ability” program for both reading and math. He wants to be a fighter pilot, but he called social studies his favorite subject.

“The different civilizations, how they rose and fell,” he said, explaining his interest. “There’s a proverb that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.”