A 13-year-old Oakville pupil recently discovered a mistake on the standard test used to gauge the scholastic aptitude of Missouri youth.
Adam Diehl, who just completed seventh grade at Bernard Middle School, was finishing the Missouri Assessment Program test of math skills when he realized that none of the multiple-choice answers provided by the test were correct.
It was the third question from the end of the math segment, so after he finished the test he memorized the problem so he could discuss it with his teacher.
“Adam stands up for himself very well,” said his father, Tom. “He wasn’t going to lose a point over something like that.”
When Adam took the problem to his teacher, he recalled she took out her calculator and worked the problem until she agreed with him that none of the test’s four test answers were correct.
“He’s the kind of student everyone wants in their class,” math teacher Dawn Bader said. “His interest in learning sets him apart from other students. He finds errors in our textbooks as well.”
Bader took the problem to her principal and soon the school district was in contact with Michael Muenks, coordinator of curriculum and assessment for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the agency responsible for the test.
“He has very good math skills,” Muenks said of Adam. “We had a transcription error in a field-test item that resulted in none of the four answers being correct. It’s a very rare occurrence.”
Muenks said field-test items do not count toward the final aptitude score, but are extra questions to establish understanding of the subject matter.
“Obviously, some students understand the concepts better than others,” Adam’s father said. “I’m pretty proud of him.”
Adam likes reading in his spare time.
Currently, he’s reading three books: one on robotics, one on history and the third is a Harry Potter novel.
“I like to play soccer,” Adam said. “I have a race car game I play with my dad. I keep smoking him. He has a race car and I take a little 189-horsepower Lotus. I still beat him.”
Adam already has taken the ACT test.
“I scored a 29 in the reading section,” he said.
“He got state recognition for his ACT composite score — 24,” said Tom Diehl, who serves as president of the Mehlville Board of Education.
“I already have college credits,” Adam said. “I also like to play with my cat Shadow. He sees a little gap under the couch and he runs up, sticks his paw underneath it and starts flipping around.”
