By Mary Boehm
(Editor’s Note: You may download a longer version of this article as it appeared in The Birmingham News.)
There are 5,700 Alabama teenagers who owe a debt of gratitude to Jaime Escalante, the charismatic California math teacher who was the subject of the 1988 movie “Stand and Deliver.”
Escalante, best known for teaching college-level Advanced Placement calculus to students in one of East Los Angeles’ rough neighborhoods, died last month. Though he never taught here, his spirit of high expectations for all students already pervades A+ College Ready’s 23 program high schools scattered across the state. And the impact will grow as the initiative spreads to 20 additional schools for the upcoming year. We fully expect another 6,400 students to sign up for these Advanced Placement classes in 2010-11.
A+ College Ready, a division of the A+ Education Partnership, is a statewide initiative to dramatically increase success on Advanced Placement math, science and English exams. This is in pursuit of two larger goals – eliminating inequities in Advanced Placement access and fostering the next generation of scientists and engineers.
You may ask why this is needed. The data show that there are many more students who are capable of doing Advanced Placement (AP) work than have been taking these courses. Minorities or students from low-income families are particularly likely to be left out.
In just the first year, participating schools saw an 83% increase in passing scores on AP exams. Minority students from those schools earned 68% more passing scores than the year before.
The students and teachers do the hard work that makes these results happen, but the success would not be possible without significant support from donors. A gift from the National Math and Science Initiative and ExxonMobil created the initiative. Alabama businesses – led by Alabama Power, Regions and Boeing – have provided essential matching dollars.
So thank you, Jaime Escalante. Rest in peace. And thank you to the students, teachers, school leaders and donors in Alabama who are keeping your ideals alive.
Mary Boehm is president of A+ College Ready, a division of the A+ Education Partnership. She may be contacted at [email protected].
(Image credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
