Text #1

Text #1 - Stand and Deliver

A high school math teacher, Jaime Escalante, works in a rough part of Los Angeles that consists of mostly minorities and is in danger of being shut down for inadequate test scores. However Mr. Escalante is determined to prove to everyone that his dropout prone students can achieve anything with the right motivation and support.  In fact he goes as far as to claim that he can get his once below grade level students to pass the AP Calculus exam.  He pushes these students to come in before school starts, after school, on Saturdays, and even during the summer.  The students learn to respect and love Mr. Escalante and they work hard to meet his expectations.  He has so much faith in his students that they don’t want to disappoint him and they even gain self-confidence in the process.  The time comes for them to take the AP Calculus exam and...SPOILER ALERT...they all pass!  Unfortunately because of “test abnormalities” the students are accused of cheating.  Mr. Escalante and the students refuse to let this be the end and they agree to retake the exam.  They spend countless hours reviewing and...SPOILER ALERT...they all pass yet again!  

**Now I obviously make the whole process sound a lot easier than it actually was.  They struggle throughout the entire movie and almost give up on several occasions.  They must persevere through several obstacles.  It is truly an inspiring movie!**

After the students watch Stand and Deliver they will be given the percentages of high school dropouts based on race for a given year.  They will work in a group of 4 to create a histogram with the data that they are given.  Each group is given a different year and they must draw their histogram on a large piece of paper.  I will put the histograms up around the room and the students will be required to walk around the room and write down comparisons and contrasts and at least 1 piece of information that they found interesting.  We will then discuss what they wrote down as a class.  Next I will give them the average test scores of 17 year olds for 12 different years based on their race.  They will be required to create a box-and-whisker plot for each race’s set of data with a partner.  All of the box-and-whisker plots will be drawn on the same piece of paper so they can compare the scores between all of the races.  I will check that their box-and-whisker plots are correct and then individually they will have to write a minimum of a paragraph about what they can infer from the box-and-whisker plots. I will have them read their paragraphs at the beginning of class the next day so we can discuss their findings as a class.

Menendez, R. (Director). (1998). Stand and Deliver [Motion picture on DVD]. United States: Warner Home Video.