Stand And Deliver Reflection

Superior Essays
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the elements of effective instruction portrayed in the movie Stand and Deliver. Stand and Deliver is a movie based on the unconventional teaching methods of high school teacher Jaime Escalante. The elements of his particular teaching style discussed within this paper will pertain to educational equity, assessment, engaged learning, differentiated instruction, classroom management, and establishing a learning community. First, depictions of inequity in education will be discussed. Educational equity refers to the pedagogical policies, practices, and programs needed to remove educational difficulties based on national origin, color, disability, age, race/ethnicity, or gender; and impart equal educational …show more content…
Escalante was hired to teach computer science. However, upon arriving at the school he was informed that there were no computers. Due to lack of funding the computers were unable to be purchased during the previous academic year. Rather than having this be an obstacle he began teaching his students math. Having high expectations for his students and identifying the preexisting bias they faced, he chose to continue teaching them calculus the following year. These minority students faced societal inequity as other teachers, Mrs. Ortega, in particular has low expectations from the students, stating “we can’t teach algorithms to illiterates” (Menendez, 1988). As depicted within the movie, students derived from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Ana’s father demanded that she quit school in order to waitress and help support the family’s business. Pancho is tempted to quit school as well so that he could earn time and a half working with a family member. Lupe helps her father get ready for work and puts her siblings to bed before she is able to begin homework (“Hidden,” …show more content…
Escalante instructs the filled classroom to sit at a desk or against the wall. Swiftly, he establishes English language learners from English speaking learners and assigns them first row seats. Also, students demonstrating inappropriate behavior were spoken to in private to ascertain the cause for the misconduct. In addition, Mr. Escalante utilized classroom aids such as apples, a knife, and a hot dog vendor hat to promote differentiated instruction (“Teacher,” 2016). Anyhow, within a quarter of the way through the movie the students are divided into two groups. Students are challenged to pick a side of whether they are willing to work hard toward academic success or not. During the lesson, students were asked what they had after one apple was sliced half. The responses Mr. Escalante received varied but included two halves or fifty percent (Robb, 2016). Nonetheless, the students quickly understood and were able to visualize the

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    American Dream: The Solution In the book Always Running: La Vida Loca Gang Days in LA by Luis J. Rodriguez. The author explains the american dream that’s in Crisis by explaining from his personal experience. Rodriguez starts his story from when he was came into LA as an immigrant along with his family. While him and his family stayed in LA that was infested with with gangs in the 50-60’s.…

    • 1564 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The world of education as we know it is a place built on a foundation that is surrounded by enigmas and empty promises. It is for this reason that America has yet to find an effective solution that works for schools nationwide that is “progressive” as well as “consistent” in the field of education. The articles and the book that we have read so far in class have left me a bittersweet taste in my mouth. I think about how far we have come and how many steps we continue taking backwards. The issues surrounding education seem to share the same common factors of race, high expectations, and hidden agendas.…

    • 1060 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jaime Escalante Essay

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mr. Escalante’s ability to impact the students who were the hardest to reach would make him as asset to Swansboro High School. The students in Mr. Escalante’s class could all contribute part of their poor performance at school to the lack of support they received from their families and educators. For example, Ana Delgado was temporarily forced to quit school to waitress at her father’s restaurant despite being extremely successful and aspiring to go to medical…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Instead of relying on hard factual evidence to try to convince her audience of her point, Ravitch relies upon common sense. Ravitch uses pathos to appeal to the parents of the students by constantly asking the reader what they would want their children to be learning in school. Through these Ravitch tries to prove her point to the audience. In her essay, Ravitch’s uses logical reasoning to explain why students need to have a more diverse education if they are able to contribute to society.…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The documentary White Teachers/Diverse Classrooms was an informational video about how white teachers can become better at connecting with their students that come from other cultures. Based off of the book White Teachers/Diverse Classrooms, edited by Julie Landsman and Chance W. Lewis, this documentary shares the voices of parents, teachers, students, and administrators. As well as hearing from different perspectives, the documentary also provides important numbers and information regarding racism and diversity in public schools and classrooms. The editors speak in the documentary about how they hope teacher viewing it will take the advice given in the video and build a stronger classroom. There is a lot that need improvement within schools…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While all students deserve to be treated equally, part of that equality is that they all have a fair shot at receiving a quality education. In my future classroom, I plan to work closely with my struggling students and to utilize strategies such as those presented in this reading. In general, mathematics is a difficult subject to grasp and can be made even more challenging due a language barrier or a fear of speaking up. Strategies, such as those highlighted in this reading, are needed to help all students to achieve their…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Have you ever had that one instructor that you will never forget for their inspirational words that encouraged you to thrive? Or on the other hand, instructors that made you doubt your own ability to succeed in life? Take a minute and reflect about the impact that a professor can have on you by helping you realize the importance of a good education. This type of impact can be either beneficial or can cause a negativity. It all depends if you decide to take the challenges set upon you, and if you are willing to stay devoted to a goal. We all have instructors that will never be forgotten, either for good or bad impact they caused in our life and the life of other students as well.…

    • 1823 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    After we touched the topics of Race and Ethnicity and Social Inequalities in the education system in the United States in ED-160, I was curious about how those inequalities affect the lives of students today. As I began my research about the inequalities that students face, I found an article that stated that “the ultimate test of an educational system is whether it makes sure that every student, whatever their background, is exposed to the content they need to compete in today's society.” It was disturbing to read that “U.S. schools are failing this most basic test.” I also found an article where Gaston Caperton said “Tests are not the problem, students are not the problem. The problem we have is an unfair education system in America-an unequal…

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In her book, hooks explores the theory of teaching, or pedagogy, and how her personal learning experiences have influenced her pedagogy. Hooks argues that an essential part of the classroom is that “the professor must genuinely value everyone’s presence. There must be an ongoing recognition that everyone influences the classroom dynamic, that everyone contributes” (8). This argument is inspired by hook’s personal experience of transitioning from a segregated to non-segregated school. Due her continued exclusion even in a non-segregated setting, hooks has a strong belief that in the classroom, everyone should be treated as the equals they are. By hooks’ logic, equality entails equality of influence in a group.…

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Equal opportunity in education is as realistic in America as it is to lick your own elbow or fitting your whole fist in your mouth. Equal opportunity in education is the prevention of any discriminatory acts against students, staff and faculty; however, in Mike Rose’s, “I Just Wanna Be Average”, he argues that the educational system is completely unjust for those in a lower program and that those that are in those lower education programs are not being challenged to their full potential. Rose brings up many important points in his study about the educational system, but fails to mention other factors that could cause a student to not reach their true potential. These factors, such as race and social class, nowadays, contribute greatly in the…

    • 1311 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Education in the United States went through great reform in the late 1800s to 1900s. Change didn’t come about easy and educational equality is still a popular debate today. Although educational change was talked about and seemingly in progress, equality still had a long way to go. Differences in racial and social classes became prevalent especially through schooling. Black Americans were limited and restrained with obstacles such as what schools they were allowed to attend, what classes they were to take, and by what the teachers were taught to educate on.…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The movie Stand and Deliver is based on a true story (Menéndez, 1998). The story takes place in east Los Angeles on a high school that is known for its low scores (Menéndez, 1998). The story revolves around Mr. Escanlante, who is trying to teach a computer class but instead gets stuck teaching math (Menéndez, 1998). After this happens, he makes it his goal to teach the students calculus so they can pass the AP exam and receive credit for college (Menéndez, 1998). These students do not know much about simple math, so this becomes a hard task for a teacher.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Injustice In Education

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Many people have been affected by the injustice in the educational system. However, this injustice has been set in place because people think they are better than others. In the book BLOWOUT! by Mario T. Garcia and Sal Castro it talks about many young students dealing with this, and a man trying to make a difference. Sal Castro is the man fighting to make a difference for latino’s.…

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every classroom is diverse. The students, teachers, and dynamics between each person set the the tone of how the class will function for the year. However, those relationships do not paint the whole picture when it comes to how a student will learn and thrive. The way in which individual children learn is unique. Within each classroom there is a wide array of learning needs.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Urban schools are most always portrayed in a negative light. Such is the case in the movie called Stand and Deliver which takes place in a high school in East Los Angeles during the 1980’s. This movie is based off a true story about a teacher by the name of Jaime Escalante, played by Edward Olmos, who worked diligently with a group of roughneck students because he thought that every student has the potential to learn. He believed that if the students and teacher had enough “Ganas” or motivation that students would supersede the expectations of any educational setting. Armed with his motivation he set out to teach 18 students far more math than they ever imagined they would learn; he taught them Calculus for them to take the AP Calculus Exam.…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays