Title: Jaime Escalante | Encyclopedia.com
Headings: Escalante, Jaime: 1930—: Educator
Escalante, Jaime: 1930—: Educator
Jaime Escalante: 1930 —: Educator
Early Teaching Experience
At a Glance . . .
Immigrated to the United States
Challenged Students to Excel
Became a National Hero
Joined English for Children Initiative
Sources
Books
Periodicals
On-line
Jaime Escalante
Jaime Escalante
Public Acclaim
Program Continues
Further Reading

Content: He once brought a meat cleaver and an apple to class to teach his students fractions. He would wear funny hats, make jokes about sex, and do whatever he could think of to get his students' attention — and he was successful. He soon gained the students' respect and they nicknamed him Kemo Sabe, the man who knows, which was Tonto's name for the famous Lone Ranger. Garfield's students began to rise to the challenge set forth by Escalante. When he introduced calculus in 1979 he had five students in the class. All five took the Advanced Placement (AP) exam for calculus and four of them passed. This standardized test gave passing students college credits. It was so difficult that only two percent of American high school students even attempted it. Escalante was inspired by this success and worked even harder to recruit more students. He held special after-school sessions and Saturday classes to prepare students for the AP test.