Introduction
This movie was made in 1988 and it is based on a true story; that is, the teacher, school and students all really exist and the major events of this movie actually happened.
The setting of the movie is a public high school in East Los Angeles, a working-class neighborhood made up mainly of Spanish-speaking immigrants. A teacher, Mr. Escalante, is hired to teach basic math (arithmetic) but he decides to set higher goals for his students. He teaches them algebra instead, and then convinces the school to let him teach calculus the next year. He wants to teach calculus so that his students will be eligible to take the Advanced Placement Math Test. This is a test which graduating high school students across the country can take; if they pass the test, they get credit for calculus when they go to college. (That means that they don't have to take and pay for the usual required college math class).
The movie shows the students preparing to take the test and what happens afterwards.
Questions
Think about these questions as we watch the first few scenes of the movie.
1. What are your impressions of the neighborhood? Which things show you that there are many Hispanic people in this neighborhood?
2. What is happening at the school when Mr Escalante arrives? What was Mr. Escalante expected to teach at the school? Why does he end up teaching math instead?
3. What are your impressions of the school and the students? How do the students react to Mr. Escalante? Do they like math? Do they like to study?
4. What was Mr. Escalante's job before he became a high-school teacher? How does Mr. Escalante's neighbor react when he hears that he quit a high paying job to become a teacher? Do you think people respect high-school teachers?
5. At the beginning, the students don't even know how to do basic math, such as fractions. How does Mr. Escalante encourage them? How does he deal with the tough guys?
6. What kind of attitude do the other math teachers have about the students? What do they think of Mr. Escalante?
# At the beginning of the movie, do the students seem like they are planning to go to college? How do their families and friends react when they start studying math so intensely? (Think about why Angel asks for another book, and about how Anna's father wants her to quit school.)
# What things make it hard for the students to study outside of class? That is, what responsibilities do they have and what distractions are there?
# How do the other teachers react when Mr. Escalante says that he wants to teach calculus in the fall? What do the students have to do in order to get ready for the class?
# What are the conditions of the "contract" that Mr. Escalante gives the students at the beginning of the calculus class? Why do you think he makes them sign the contract? Do Japanese teachers ever use contracts?
# Besides teaching highschool, what other work does Mr. Escalante do? Why does he take this job? What does his family think about it?
# Why did Angel bring his grandmother to Mr. Escalante's house?
# According to the doctors, why did Mr. Escalate have a heart attack?
# How do the students do on the Advanced Placement Test? Why do the people at the testing company think that the students cheated?
# Who else thinks that the students cheated?