C.H.A.M.P.
Cougars and Houston Area Math Program
 
 
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Mission of CHAMP

Fact: Mathematics ability is distributed uniformly throughout the population.

In particular, a person's gender, race, and socioeconomic status have no effect on innate mathematical ability or potential to do well in mathematics or mathematically-related disciplines.


Problem: Women, minorities, and low-income students are vastly underrepresented in all areas of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology.

Since many women, minorities, and low-income students do not get the opportunity to develop their potential in math and science, the talent of many people is squandered. This loss of potential results in fewer discoveries, overlooked innovations, and delayed development of science and technology. When only a fraction of the population is free to contribute, we all miss out.

The lack of qualified workers in mathematically-related fields has become a critical national issue. Despite decades of effort and millions of government dollars spent to change this situation, women, minorities, and low-income students remain vastly underrepresented in science and math-related fields.


What We Believe: Every student deserves access to a top-notch education and the ability to pursue that education unhindered. Moreover, society will be more innovative and prosperous if everyone has equal opportunities to pursue mathematics and science.


Our Mission: CHAMP's mission is to address the critical issue of underrepresentation in math and science, and create pathways for underserved students to become mathematicians, scientists, engineers, and programmers.


What We Do: We provide mathematics lessons and tutoring several days each week. More details on these activities can be found on our Activities Page.


Goals of CHAMP: You can see a detailed list of our goals on the CHAMP Goals Page.


Why Math? Since CHAMP wishes to encourage students to pursue STEM fields, you may wonder why we focus on mathematics. The primary reason is that mathematics is a prerequisite to all STEM fields. A solid foundation in mathematics is necessary in all areas of science, engineerings, and technology, and without it many doors remain closed. Indeed, many college students who wish to be doctors or engineers end up leaving their major due not to bad grades in their major, but rather difficulty with the required mathematics for their major classes. Mathematics is ubiquitous and necessary in the study of subjects relevant in our modern, technology-driven world.

There are also several additional benefits to teaching mathematics in CHAMP.
  1. In Texas, high school students must pass certain standardized tests in order to graduate from high school and receive their diploma. For most struggling students it is the math portion of the exam (as opposed to other sections, such as science or english) where the students have the lowest scores. Consequently, lack of mathematics knowledge is often the number one obstruction for a student to graduate from high school. This problem is exacerbated in struggling or underserved high schools, where the discrepancies between scores in math and other subjects are even greater. In a nutshell, quality math education is a serious need in many high schools, particularly in underserved communities.
  2. Mathematics is a prerequisite for any college-level study of science, engineering, technology, computer science, medicine, or several other subjects. This is why almost everyone in college is required to take one math class, and many majors require multiple. It's also one reason why the SAT focuses on two areas: English and Math. Mathematics is fundamental, and knowledge of mathematics provides opportunities. A good mathematical background can substantially improve a student's scores on college entrance exams, helping the student to get into a better school or to receive more scholarships. Mathematics opens the doors to college.
  3. In addition to the technical topics taught in math courses, mathematics can also be used to teach critical reasoning, problem solving, logic, and general quantitative literacy. Mathematics provides useful skills and leads to clarity of thought. It can also inspire curiosity and creativity. It helps students to understand how to think and how to learn, and its skills are useful and transferable to many other situations.
  4. Mathematics can be taught without expensive equipment, computers, labs, or materials. It is easy to give quality math education with very little funding, and what we do in CHAMP can also be replicated by teachers or administrators in the partnering high schools without requiring them to spend money or purchase additional resources.