Title: Jaime Escalante Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline
Headings: Jaime Escalante
Biography

Jaime Escalante Biography
Quick Facts
Who was Jaime Escalante?
Career
Awards & Achievements
Personal Life & Legacy

Content: A group of his students passed the advance placement exam in calculus for the first time in the history of the school—one of his greatest achievements as a teacher. He saw the potential in his students that other teachers had failed to see before, and pushed them to amazing heights. Recommended Lists: Recommended Lists: California State University, Los Angeles
American Educators
Capricorn Men
Career
After obtaining his teaching credentials, he was appointed as a teacher at the Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, California, in 1974. He found himself in a challenging situation, teaching mathematics to troubled students in a rundown school known for violence and drugs. Instead of gearing his classes to poorly performing students, he offered to teach them advanced placement calculus and started an advanced mathematics program with a handful of students. In 1982, he came into national spotlight when his largest class till then, consisting of 18 students, took and passed an advanced placement test in calculus. However, the students were accused of cheating in the test to which he responded furiously. He believed the scores had been challenged because they came from Hispanic students at a poor high school.