Temple College recently received two awards for its leadership on the Math Pathways project, a statewide initiative designed to help community college students complete their required math courses in less time.

The awards were presented by the Texas Success Center, which is sponsored by the Texas Association of Community Colleges. The center hosted a dinner Nov. 17 to celebrate the statewide implementation of the Math Pathways project. Awards were presented to community colleges that have demonstrated leadership in implementing the four principles of the Math Pathways project: Multiple Math Pathways, Acceleration, Learning Skills and Proven Pedagogy.

Temple College was named an Exemplar College for both Principle I (Multiple Math Pathways) and Principle 3 (Learning Skills).

Temple College redesigned the first course in the Math Pathways program, which is called Foundations of Mathematics. In this course, students learn mathematics that is relevant and meaningful to them. After taking the Foundations course, students going into a field of study that requires a statistical reasoning or quantitative reasoning course may go straight into that credit course. Other students going into a STEM field will then take intermediate algebra.

The college also developed a Learning Frameworks course that helps students learn skills that will help them be successful in college, such as test-taking strategies, how to read a textbook and setting goals.

Temple College helped develop the Math Pathways project in collaboration with the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin. Thirty-four community colleges across Texas are now implementing the program.

“Working as a co-development partner with the Dana Center enabled Temple College to play a key role in the creation of a Math Pathways curriculum that is quickly becoming recognized, not only nationally, but globally, as the standard,” said Paula Talley, a Temple College mathematics instructor who oversees the program. “As an instructor, I have seen firsthand the rewards of rethinking math pathways and curriculum design. Aligning math courses with degree plans and vocational requirements provides students with a new mathematical perspective that is more meaningful because it is applicable to their future profession. Temple College has done an outstanding job of working closely with the Dana Center to create and implement the Math Pathways project that is truly changing the futures of our students’ lives. We have students who are flourishing in math courses that would have once meant the end of their educational endeavor.”