Remembering Math Teacher Jaime Escalante
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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Today we remember a man who was [A]considered[/A] one of the best teachers in the United States. Jaime Alfonso Escalante was born in nineteen thirty in La Paz, Bolivia. Both his parents were teachers. He taught math and [A]science[/A] in his home country for twelve years.
In the nineteen sixties, Jaime Escalante and his wife Fabiola came to the United States. During the next several years, he learned to speak English and [A]repeated[/A] his college education and teacher training.
In nineteen seventy-four, Mr. Escalante was [A]hired[/A] at Garfield High School to teach [A]mathematics[/A].
The school was in a poor area of Los Angeles, California. Many of the students had serious [A]problems[/A] with illegal drugs, gangs and [A]violence[/A]. The school was in danger of losing its official approval to operate.
Mr. Escalante's students were mostly Mexican-Americans from a Spanish-speaking area of the city. Many were the worst students at the school and [A]thought[/A] to be "unteachable." But Mr. Escalante pushed the group to work hard. He told them basic math was too easy and that they had the ability to do [A]harder[/A] work.
He told his students that he believed in them, but they must have the [A]desire[/A] to be successful.
Jaime Escalante started an [A]advanced[/A] math program with a small group of students. Advanced Placement is a program of college-level classes and tests.? In nineteen eighty-two, eighteen of his students took the Advanced Placement test in calculus. They all [A]passed[/A].
Officials at the testing company [A]suspected[/A] the students of cheating. Mr. Escalante protested. He said the students were being [A]rejected[/A] because they were Hispanic and from a poor school. He urged his students to take the test again.
Twelve of the students repeated the test. And again, all of them passed. Five [A]earned[/A] top scores. Mr. Escalante's students went on to become engineers, scientists and university professors. The advanced math program at Garfield became [A]extremely[/A] successful over the next several years.
Jaime Escalante received many teaching awards [A]including[/A] the Presidential Medal of Excellence in Education. A movie about his success, "Stand and Deliver," was [A]released [/A]in nineteen eighty-eight. It influenced other teachers to use his methods.
Jaime Escalante [A]retired[/A] from teaching in nineteen ninety-eight and later moved back to Bolivia with his wife. He died earlier this year. He was seventy-nine years old.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report written by Lawan Davis. I'm Steve Ember.
