Jaime Escalante

At 79 years old, Jaime Escalante physical status not available right now. We will update Jaime Escalante's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Escalante taught mathematics and physics for 12 years in Bolivia before he immigrated to the United States. He worked various jobs while teaching himself English and earning another college degree before eventually returning to the classroom as an educator.

In 1974, he began to teach at Garfield High School. Escalante eventually changed his mind about returning to work when he found 12 students willing to take an algebra class.

Shortly after Escalante came to Garfield High School, its accreditation became threatened. Instead of gearing classes to poorly performing students, Escalante offered AP Calculus. He had already earned the criticism of an administrator, who disapproved of his requiring the students to answer a homework question before being allowed into the classroom: "He said to 'Just get them inside.' I said, 'There is no teaching, no learning going on here. We are just baby-sitting.'"

Determined to change the status quo, Escalante persuaded a few students that they could control their futures with the right education. He promised them that they could get jobs in engineering, electronics, and computers if they would learn math: "I'll teach you math and that's your language. With that, you're going to make it. You're going to college and sit in the first row, not the back because you're going to know more than anybody."

The school administration opposed Escalante frequently during his first few years. He was threatened with dismissal by an assistant principal because he was coming in too early, leaving too late, and failing to get administrative permission to raise funds to pay for his students' Advanced Placement tests. The opposition changed with the arrival of a new principal, Henry Gradillas. Aside from allowing Escalante to stay, Gradillas overhauled the academic curriculum at Garfield, reducing the number of basic math classes and requiring those taking basic math to take algebra as well. He denied extracurricular activities to students who failed to maintain a C average and to new students who failed basic skills tests. One of Escalante's students remarked, "If he wants to teach us that bad, we can learn."

Escalante continued to teach at Garfield and instructed his first calculus class in 1978. He recruited fellow teacher Ben Jiménez and taught calculus to five students, two of whom passed the AP calculus test. The following year, the class size increased to nine students, seven of whom passed the AP calculus test. By 1981, the class had increased to 15 students, 14 of whom passed. Escalante placed a high priority on pressuring his students to pass their math classes, particularly calculus. He rejected the common practice of ranking students from first to last but frequently told his students to press themselves as hard as possible in their assignments.

Source

• 1988 – Presidential Medal for Excellence in Education, awarded by President Ronald Reagan
• 1988 – Hispanic Heritage Awards Honoree
• 1989 – Honorary Doctor of Science – University of Massachusetts Boston
• 1990 – Honorary Doctor of Humanities – California State University, Los Angeles
• 1990 – Honorary Doctor of Education – Concordia University, Montreal
• 1990 – Honorary Doctor of Laws – University of Northern Colorado
• 1990 – Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
• 1998 – Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters – Wittenberg University
• 1998 – Free Spirit Award, from the Freedom Forum
• 1998 – Andrés Bello prize, from the Organization of American States
• 1999 – Inductee National Teachers Hall of Fame
• 2002 – Member, President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
• 2005 – The Highest Office Award – Center for Youth Citizenship
• 2005 – Best teacher in North America – Freedom Forum
• 2014 – Foundational Award Winner, posthumously given to Fabiola Escalante (together with Henry Gradillas and Angelo Villavicencio) – Escalante–Gradillas Best in Education Prize
• 2016 – The United States Postal Service issued a 1st Class Forever "Jaime Escalante" stamp to honor "the East Los Angeles teacher whose inspirational methods led supposedly 'unteachable' high school students to master calculus."