Defying Low Expectations: What Jaime Escalante Taught Us About Learning

Defying Low Expectations: What Jaime Escalante Taught Us About LearningJaime Escalante didn’t just teach calculus in East LA; he blew up the lie that poor, minority students can’t handle serious academics—and then watched the system quietly bury the evidence. Defying Low Expectations tells the story beyond Stand and Deliver, the 1988 film about Escalante starring Edward James Olmos that became a classroom staple. Here we learn about the immigrant teacher from Bolivia, the maverick principal Henry Gradillas who cleared a path for him, and the forces that dismantled their success once it became too threatening to the status quo. Drawing on fresh interviews, lost online material, and hard data about today’s failing schools, Dembski and Thomas show how Escalante created an ecosystem where students did the hard thing—and won big. This isn’t nostalgia. It’s a blueprint for rescuing American education. Escalante’s example exposes low expectations as educational malpractice and shows how disciplined teaching, principled leadership, and moral courage can turn “throwaway” American schools into powerhouses of learning.In Praise of Jaime Escalante:“Jaime Escalante exposed one of the most dangerous myths of our time—that inner-city students can't be expected to perform at the highest levels—and because of him, that destructive idea has been shattered forever.”Edward James Olmos, actor who portrayed Escalante“Jaime Escalante and those at Garfield High School are the kinds of people movies ought to glorify, and this time [in Stand and Deliver] the movies did.”President Ronald Reagan“Throughout his career, Jaime opened the doors of success and higher education for his students one by one and proved that where a person came from did not have to determine how far they could go.”President Barack ObamaWilliam A. Dembski worked as a research mathematician at the height of Jaime Escalante’s fame in the late 1980s. Never losing sight of Escalante’s monumental success in teaching calculus at Garfield High in East LA, Dembski finally had the opportunity to pay homage to Escalante with this book. Best known for his work on intelligent design, Dembski is also an entrepreneur, focusing on the connections between education, technology, and freedom.Alex Thomas began his career as an advertising copywriter and radio producer in Dallas and Houston. Since then, he has worn a variety of hats including music producer, radio syndication executive, publisher, editor, and communications consultant. He has a special interest in the history of education and the role of education in American culture. Alex was educated at Houston Baptist University, Vanderbilt University, and University College, Oxford. Read more