The Secrets to His Success
How did Escalante attain such success at Garfield? One key factor was the support of his principal, Henry Gradillas.
Escalante's program was already in place when Gradillas came to Garfield, but the new principal's support allowed it to run smoothly. In the early years, Escalante had met with some resistance from the school administration. One assistant principal threatened to have him dismissed, on the grounds that he was coming in too early (a janitor had complained), keeping students too late, and raising funds without permission. Gradillas, on the other hand, handed Escalante the keys to the school and gave him full control of his program.
Gradillas also worked to create a more serious academic environment at Garfield. He reduced the number of basic math classes and eventually came up with a requirement that those who take basic math must concurrently take algebra. He even braved the wrath of the community by denying extracurricular activities to entering students who failed basic skills tests and to current students who failed to maintain a C average.
In the process of raising academic standards at Garfield, Gradillas made more than a few enemies. He took a sabbatical leave to finish his doctorate in 1987, hoping that upon his return he would either be reinstated as principal of Garfield or be given a position from which he could help other schools foster programs like Escalante's. He was instead assigned to supervise asbestos removal. It is probably no coincidence that A.P. calculus scores at Garfield peaked in 1987, Gradillas' last year there.
Escalante remained at Garfield for four years after Gradillas' departure. Although he does not blame the ensuing administration for his own departure from the school, Escalante observes that Gradillas was an academic principal, while his replacement was more interested in other things, such as football and the marching band.
Gradillas was not the only reason for Escalante's success, of course. Other factors included:
The Pipeline. Unlike the students in the movie, the real Garfield students required years of solid preparation before they could take calculus. This created a problem for Escalante. Garfield was a three-year high school, and the junior high schools that fed it offered only basic math. Even if the entering sophomores took advanced math every year, there was not enough time in their schedules to take geometry, algebra II, math analysis, trigonometry, and calculus.
So Escalante established a program at East Los Angeles College where students could take these classes in intensive seven-week summer sessions. Escalante and Gradillas were also instrumental in getting the feeder schools to offer algebra in the eighth and ninth grades.
Inside Garfield, Escalante worked to ratchet up standards in the classes that fed into calculus. He taught some of the feeder classes himself, assigning others to handpicked teachers with whom he coordinated and reviewed lesson plans. By the time he left, there were nine Garfield teachers working in his math enrichment program and several teachers from other East L.A. high schools working in the summer program at the college.
Tutoring. Years ago, when asked if Garfield could ever catch up to Beverly Hills High School, Gradillas responded, "No, but we can get close." The children of wealthy, well-educated parents do enjoy advantages in school. Escalante did whatever he could to bring some of those advantages to his students.
Among the parents of Garfield students, high school graduates were in the minority and college graduates were a rarity. To help make up for the lack of academic support available at home, Escalante established tutoring sessions before and after school. When funds became available, he arranged for paid student tutors to help those who fell behind.
Escalante's field-leveling efforts worked. By 1987, Gradillas' prediction proved to be partially wrong: In A.P. calculus, Garfield had outpaced Beverly High.
Open Enrollment. Escalante did not approve of programs for the gifted, academic tracking, or even qualifying examinations. If students wanted to take his classes, he let them.
His open-door policy bore fruit. Students who would never have been selected for honors classes or programs for the gifted chose to enroll in Escalante's math enrichment classes and succeeded there.
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Pingback| 10.17.09 @ 8:02PM
Math Education « Where the Arts Meet the Sciences links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Josh|12.8.09 @ 1:24PM|#
Great article! With the budget cuts and everything, our education is getting worse and worse, but the teachers continue to do their best, and that is what makes all the difference.
|12.10.09 @ 2:07PM|#
Excellent article. It ties in with a book I've just read, "There Are No Shortcuts", by Rafe Esquith. Esquith is another inspired teacher in the LA area whose students consistently achieve. Like Escalante, Esquith opens the doors to his classroom early in the morning and closes late in the afternoon. That teachers have to jump through all sorts of hoops to offer extras to their students is nothing short of criminal.
Our current educational system is doing a good job of discouraging and punishing teachers who think, and operate, outside the box. Administrators and bureaucrats who stand in the way of these inspired teachers should be dismissed. Administrators should be eager to support teachers who refuse to participate in the dumbing down of the system; instead, mediocrity is rewarded. Enough!
|3.2.10 @ 5:50PM|#
I appreciate so much background on Escalante. It would be interesting to find any information on what became of these students, especially those portrayed in the film. Did they find success in life due to Escalante's teaching methods? Anyone have follow up information on any of the students?
Pingback| 3.10.10 @ 8:12PM
Investing in the future | Ms. Kelley's Blog links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Angie|3.20.10 @ 2:11PM|#
Shameful fall? I didn't see any shameful fall. That's an overstatement. Too bad the program couldn't have been permanently successful, but Escalante worked hard and succeeded for a time at the school.
The Opinionator|3.30.10 @ 10:00PM|#
Angie,
It is indeed shameful that a man who successfully taught and changed the lives of students was run out of the school and now it is a shadow of it's former self. That is definitely a shameful, and preventable, fall. And it is the students that will pay the price is lost opportunities. The Union however, is still thriving even though they are not producing.
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Changing Math Results » Eastern Desert links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Michelle Malkin » Jaime Escalante, R.I.P. links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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jaime escalante links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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jaime escalante links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Jaime Escalante dies « Joanne Jacobs links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Jaime Escalante Dead at 79 links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Would Arne Duncan Have Eaten The Marshmallow? | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day. links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Stand and Deliver Teacher Jaime Escalante Dies | JetLib News links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
|3.31.10 @ 3:03PM|#
"... might now be retiring from Unisys ". Anyone who has worked for or with Unisys will definitely find the comedy behind that statement. Never have I seen so many lost souls in one organization.
Pingback| 3.31.10 @ 3:31PM
‘Stand and Deliver’ teacher dies of cancer « CarneyWeb.com links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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links for 2010-03-31 « AB's reflections links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Zinger.Org » Blog Archive » Stand and Deliver Revisited – Reason Magazine links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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The Biz Insider News Expertise » Blog Archive » Jaime Escalante, R.I.P. links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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The Biz Insider News Expertise » Blog Archive » Jaime Escalante, R.I.P. links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Possível Motivo Por Falha No Sistema Educacional « eardreams links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Aaron Rogier » Model Educator Passes links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Stand and Deliver Revisited (Jaime Escalante) links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Stand and Deliver Teacher Jaime Escalante « Kintu – La vista links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Stand and Deliver Teacher Jaime Escalante « Kintu – La vista links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Nice piece…Jaime Escalante, the Calculus Teacher Who Changed American Education « Lif links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
David B. Cohen|4.6.10 @ 1:32AM|#
The 2010 CA Teacher of the Year offers her thoughts on Escalante and his legacy:
http://accomplishedcaliforniat.....kes-ganas/
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|11.6.10 @ 6:32PM|#
Although I have not read the other comments, anyone who has watched the movie and paid attention saw the passage of three school years, not one as Jerry has suggested. That was a little closer to the true story than having us try to believe that this could happen in one school year.
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