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Jaime Escalante, 1930-2010
Hailed as one of the great educators in U.S. history, Jaime Escalante is legendary not for just his teaching, but for also his approach to learning as a right for all people. From 1978 to 1991, Escalante taught math at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Challenging an administrative culture that expected little of its mainly low-income Latino students, Escalante established advanced math courses and transformed these "unteachable" youth into outstanding academic achievers. He became a household name in 1982 when all eighteen students enrolled in his class passed the Educational Testing Services (ETS) Advanced Placement calculus exam. Based on similarities in their answers, ETS accused fourteen of them of cheating. At the agency's request they retook the exam, succeeding again. The story inspired the popular movie Stand and Delivery (1988). Today advanced classes are no longer reserved for affluent communities but offered throughout the US public school system, thanks in part to Escalante.
George Rodriguez, 1983 |