Escalante Notes

Mr. Escalante originally came into the school to teach computer science, but the school doesn’t have the funding to buy them. Instead of going somewhere else, he stays. “Students will rise to the level of expectation.”  Mr. Escalante seems to be the only teacher who actually cares about the students’ education. The rest seem to think that the kids can’t learn. They don’t even care to try. “If they try and they don’t succeed, we’ll shatter what little self-confidence they have.”

Uses humor to relate to students. Draws attention when they are late or when they don’t do their homework, good way for them to learn accountability for their choices. Doesn’t care where they come from, gives everyone the same chance to learn. Goes out of his way to vouch for Anna when her father pulls her out of the class. Knows that she can be better and wants her to have the chance. Willing to spend his summer teaching the kids so they can learn calculus. At the beginning of the year, he gives them a contract. The kids are making the commitment to come to school an hour early, take it for 2 periods during the day, and stay afterschool until 5.

“Boys don’t like if you’re too smart.” Mother of one of the students.

Sacrificing time with his family, maybe a little bit obsessed?

“He works 60 hours a week and then he volunteers to teach night-school for free.” Escalante’s wife.

Pushes himself too hard to the point where he has a heart attack. Even still, he’s not going to give up on his students. Writing work down on a paper to send to them.

The students all receive a letter about their AP test. The board believes they cheated because all of them got the same answers wrong on their tests. Angel starts acting out. He feels like nothing will ever change for him.

“Do you think they cheated?”

“Mr. Escalante, you put these kids under a lot of pressure. They would have gone to any lengths to please you.”

Mr. Escalante receives a letter of resignation in his mailbox, then he finds out his car is stolen.

“Maybe it was a mistake, trying to teach them calculus.”

“Regardless of whether or not they passed that test, they learned.”

“Yeah, they learned if they try real hard, nothing changes. What kills me is they lost confidence in the system they’re finally qualified to be a part of.”  Mr. Escalante is feeling like he’s failed them. He wonders why he even tried in the first place.

Just kidding, car wasn’t stolen. The kids took it and fixed it up. He decides to go in and talk to the people who are investigating the kids’ tests. Educational Testing Service. He wants to see the tests to find out what mistakes they made.

Kids got too few wrong answers on the multiple choice portion and finished with time to spare.

“In this country, one is innocent until proven guilty. Not the other way around.”

“You should encourage them to retake.”

“If they retake the test, everyone will assume they cheated.”

Mr. Escalante accuses the ETS agents of racism.

“There wouldn’t even be a question if my students didn’t have Spanish surnames and come from a Burroughs high school.” “If this were Beverly Hills high-school, no one would question those test scores.”  

It really is pretty sad the reaction these kids get. They got the same answers wrong because they were taught by the same teacher, step by step. They have worked very hard to get to where they are. It’s unfair that because they are who they are, the ETS believes they aren’t smart enough to pass the test on their own.

The students decide to retake the test.  They only have one day to study.

“You are the true dreamers. Dreams accomplish wonderful things.”

After the test, the ETS wants to go over the tests twice just to make sure there are no misunderstandings. All of the students pass again, many of them receive perfect scores.

Stand and Deliver: Mr. Escalante

Mr. Escalante was originally supposed to be a computer science teacher. However, the inner city highschool he went to teach at didn't have the funding needed to buy the computers. Rather than teach somewhere else, Mr. Escalante stayed and took over teaching math. The class he had was rowdy. He handled it all in stride. He used humor to connect with his students. He taught in ways that were different and interesting to his students. One of the most important things that Mr. Escalante did was simple: he cared. He knew that his kids could learn, and he wanted them to. He pushed them to strive for excellence. He instilled in them a passion for learning. He gave them confidence in themselves. He says in a meeting at the beginning of the movie "Students will rise to the level of expectation." The rest of the teachers seemed to have given up. They didn't think that the students were smart enough to learn, so they didn't even care to try. "If they try and they don't suceed, we'll shatter what little self-confidence they have." Mr. Escalante drew to the forefront the students' responsibility for their education. If they didn't come to class, they didn't learn. He didn't try to guilt them into staying. He gave them power in their education. It was their choice to be there or not. In one scene, Angel is leaving the classroom to go with his friends. He waves goodbye, rather than trying to force Angel to sit back down. Mr. Escalante presents to each student the same thing. He provides them all with the opportunity to learn. He doesn't care who they are or where they came from. He knows that they all deserve the same opportunity.

The one big downfall that Mr. Escalante has is that maybe he is a bit obsessed? He pushes himself to the point of having a heart attack, and even that doesn't slow him down. He sacrafices time with his family to put in extra time with not only the kids, but also to teach night-school. "He works 60 hours a week and then volunteers to teach night-school for free."

The story of Mr. Escalante and his kids is inspirational, to say the least. He does what "can't be done". He gives a group of students hope that they might not have otherwise had. He really believes in his kids.