ED 345 942 SE 052 796 AUTHOR Escalante, Jaime TITLE The Jaime Escalante Math Program. INSTITUTION National Education Association, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 90 NOTE 21p.; This article first appeared in the Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 59, No. 3 (Summer 1990), published by the Bureau of Educational Research, Howard University. PUB TYPE Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Advanced Placement Programs; Advanced Students; Calculus; *Educationally Disadvantaged; Educational Principles; *Enrichment Activities; High Schools; Mathematics Education; *Mathematics Instruction; *Minority Groups; Parent Participation; Parent School Relationship; School Community Relationship; Student Attitudes; Student Motivation; Student Recruitment; *Summer Programs; Teaching Methods IDENTIFIERS California (Los Angeles); Esmalante (Jaime); *Jaime Escalante Math Program ABSTRACT This article describes the Jaime Escalante Math Program, a system that in 1989 helped an East Los Angeles high school set a record by administering over 450 Advanced Placement exams, having administered only 10 tests in 1978. The article is presented in three sections. The first section describes the program, discussing origins and backgrounds: student recruitment, the curriculum, scheduling, textbooks used, past graduates as models of achievement, community resources recruitment, and teaching methods. The second section describes the fundamental principles of the Escalante Math Program. Ideas discussed include student, teacher, and parent accountability, hard work, teacher expectation, love for the students, parental involvement, mutual respect, proper nutrition, and preventing drug use. The final section, on psychology and the schools, proposes that teachers who encourage, discipline, and motivate their students can gain their willingness work and help the students overcome the obstacles to getting an education that inner-city students face. The conclusion describes a vision of mathematics education program of hard work combined with love, humor, and a recognition of "genes," the desire to learn and ability to sacrifice that young people have, that will provide an educational pipeline taking students from kindergarten through to college completion. (MDH) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** grE:,:c Adak MN, I * Ut DEARINTIOENT CIF EDUCATION Odess of Erhicehonal Research and relprovearem EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER MEC/ =he Document hoe been reproduced is received11010lee Pereenor orgsru/o/loo oniensIing it Mawr changes have been made10 IrnPrOye reco000010nowed, PointsOf Vie* at COO nrOnsiStatirl,41010 docu- ment do4,01neCellfrairlyrepro50n, ottrcks1 DER& posdeonOr P014Cy "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS SEEN GRANTED BY Charles A. Erickson TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICt" Y AVAILABLE -2. Innumeracy, the mathematical equivalentof illiteracy, is a growing and serious problem in the United States. Recentlymuch has been written about thisproblem in scholarly journals, thepopular press, and periodicals The statistics arestagger- ing Compared to allother industrialized nations, theUnited States ranks near the bottom in math and scienceachievement In today's technological age, numeracy isessential for the economic well-being of the country In the high-techfuture of the 21st century, notonly economics but also possibly our nation's verydemocratic foundation may rest on theability of our children to compete in anincreasingly global marketplace Mathskills and technical knowledge required to participatein such a society willbe far beyond what is needed even today In light of this challenge, an articleby a fellow NEA member, JaimeEscalante, is a timely offeringIt illustrates how an individualteacher can play a part in vastly improving our students' performanceBecause of the artick's priority, utility, and commonsense, the NEAhas endorsed it and reprinted itfor the use of our membership On these pages, you willfind articulation of ideas that areessential to quality teaching The excellence in teaching that ourteachers bring to the task has neverbefore been so crucial to our nation'sfuture There are many laimeEscalantes among our membershipSome of these men and womenhave yet to realize the full measure of theirtalent and potential We hopethis article will provide all teachers with useful and practical ideas Keith Geiger President Nohow! Education Association The Jaime Escalante Math Program '14 Jaime Escalank Mathematics Departmaa, Garfield High Sckool, Jack Dinnann, Associate Director, Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education In recent years I have been deluged with Associate Director of the Foundation for questions from interested teachers, com- Advancements in Science and Education munity leaders, and parents about my (EASE), to assist in the preparation of this success in teaching mathematics to poor manuscript Mr Dirmann and EASE have minority childrenI am not a theoretician, been essential to the success of my pro- my expertise is in the classroom and my gram for more than five years first commitment is to my students Together, we will address two basic Nonetheless, I am willing to share my questions opinions on this subject ii the hope that 1 "What exactly is the Escalante Math they might be helpful to other profession- Program in East Los Angeles," als in the field of education I am hopeful this article will provide answersI have 2 "What fundamental principles called upon my colleague, lack Dirmann, underlie my approach to teaching," 1990 by Jaime Escalante and lack Dirmann All Rights Reserved BEST6OPYAYALALE tangible and inexorable deadline the I. THE ESCALANTE second week of May Over the years I MATH PROGRAM have found it easy to focus student atten- tion on this challenge and its veryreal Origins: The Game rewards of possible college credit and of Education advanced placement in college mathe- matics courses In 1952, while still an undergraduate in Not all students who take the test score La Paz, Bolivia, I Legan teaching a "three' or better,which enables them to mathematics and physics first at one receive college credit at over 2,000 high school, then a second, and finally a colleges and universities, but chose who thirdI found early in my career that sit for the exam have already wonthe real children learn faster when learning is fun, game being played.They are winnerN when it is a game and a challenge From because they have met a larger challenge the beginning, I cast the teacher in the than any single examination could present role of the "coach" and the students in the They have attained a solid academic role of the 'team"I made sure they knew background in basic skills, especially math that we were all working together In La and science, and are prepared to move on Paz, in the fifties and early sixties, our and compete well against the challenges "opponent" was the annual secondary of both higher education and lifeMany school mathematics competition Our of my former studi-nts who have gone on goal: to reign as the champion overall to college mathematics orcalculus courses the local schools often call me "Kimo,' they say ("Kim& In the eighties and nineties, in the is the shortened,student-preferred barrio of East Los Angeles, my students spelling of "Kemo Sabe," the nickname I chant, "De-fense, De-tense, De-fense" (in was given by oneof my gang kids in the this context hard work, holding upunder 1970s), "this was easy after your course pressure, not giving your"opponent" an As the number of students enrolled in inch), or "Beat ETSI" as they head tothe my program has grown tobetweea 140 proctored exam room for the Super Bowl and 200 studying calculus alone, Ad- of tests the Advanced Placement (AP) vanced Placement at Garfield High Examination The ETS (Educational School has also exploded in other techni- Testing Service) AP Calculus test is the cal subjects such as physics, chemistry, most difficult of all the examinations biology, and compuwrs Many of my administered nationally to secondary students now take two, three, and some . school students and it gets tougher every times even four AP tests in varioussub. with year Less than 2%of high school seniors iects in 1989 the school set a record nationally even sit for the exam Of all over 450 AP testsadministered in 1(-) the Hispanics attempting the test nation- different subjects By comparison, in wide, 25%-30% originate from my 1978, the year before I started myAP program, only 10 tests wereadministered program Few students today have not been for the entire school and not one student lectured on the necessity and importance sat for the calculus examination of a good education, but the dictum "get a good education" maybe too nebulous a Recruiting Students message for easilydistracted young minds Their focus easily shifts to other A growing number of junior high morc pressingprublems, particularly when they are living in poverty TheAl' school students who wish to be part of test provides theformidable outside the program enroll early and participate "opponent*" that galvanizes the students in their first math class during the summer and teacher in a united charge toward a program at East LosAngeles College 52 (ELAC) between their ninth grade year teachers would tel me, 'Take Johnny, he's (last