From: "Gerald W. Bracey" To: , Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 09:00:29 -0700 Gatto invokes Escalante and Collins. Don't know anything about Collins oth= er than her reputation But Escalante's case is a bit more complex. He lef= t teaching altogether, then took a job in Sacramento as a challenge. He has been unable to replicate his impact in LA. Part of the reason appea= rs to be that in LA 100% of his students were Hispanic. He would talk to t= hem in street Spanish and intimidate their parents (by his own admission). = In Sacramento, the classes are pretty evenly divided among Asian, white, b= lack and Hispanic kids and his tough tactics don't work. Clearly he had a personal impact at Garfield in LA: In 1991, 143 kids took = the AP calculus test, in 1996 only 37. But at his new school, about 2/3 th= e size of the old one, only 11 kids took it. See Jay Mathews, "Movie Inspiration Has Found That Fame Can Stand in the Wa= y of Success," Washington Post, May 21, 1997, p. D1.