Teach For America and the Amgen Foundation Renew Partnership to Improve Math and Science Education in Urban and Rural Schools

$1.8 Million Grant Will Enable Teach For America to Recruit and Train More Math and Science Graduates to Join the Teaching Corps

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Amgen

Dec 16, 2010, 04:27 ET

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. and NEW YORK, Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Teach For America and the Amgen Foundation today announced the renewal of their partnership to advance math and science education in America's underserved public schools. Under this partnership, the Amgen Foundation pledged $1.8 million to increase the number of outstanding math and science graduates who join Teach For America's teaching corps by 2013. This new grant brings the total support from Amgen Foundation to more than $7 million since 2004.

The Amgen Foundation is Teach For America's Founding National Math and Science Partner. Each year, the Amgen Foundation supports 100 new Amgen Fellows, selected from the top incoming Teach For America corps members with undergraduate degrees in math or science. These fellows each receive a $1,000 signing bonus and are eligible for additional financial support for classroom resources or professional development.

"With the Amgen Foundation's generous support, Teach For America has been able to triple the number of corps members with math and science expertise dedicated to raising achievement levels in high-need classrooms across the country," said Wendy Kopp, chief executive officer and founder of Teach For America. "Amgen's partnership remains essential in our work to ensure that all children have the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by the very best math and science teachers."

Teach For America and the Amgen Foundation joined forces in 2004 to address the urgent need for excellent math and science education in this country, particularly in low-income communities. The World Economic Forum ranks the United States (U.S.) 48th in quality of math and science education. In addition, according to the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment, which measures knowledge and skills among 15-year-olds globally, the U.S. ranked 17th in science and 25th in math out of 34 countries.

"The Amgen Foundation shares Teach For America's commitment to high quality science and math education, which is such a critical building block for our nation's future innovation and economic strength," said Jean J. Lim, president of the Amgen Foundation. "Teach For America's efforts are helping to encourage a new generation to explore a future in science while building the next generation of leaders in education."

Through the partnership with the Amgen Foundation, Teach For America has tripled the number of corps members teaching math and science, from 800 in 2004 to more than 2,600 today. These committed math and science teachers are impacting more than 166,000 students across 39 regions. Additionally, 2,200 math and science alumni continue to advocate for educational equity as leaders in a variety of professional fields.

About Teach For America

Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Today, 8,200 corps members are teaching in 39 regions across the country while 20,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org.

About the Amgen Foundation

The Amgen Foundation (www.amgen.com/citizenship/overview.html) seeks to advance science education; improve patient access to quality care; and strengthen the communities where Amgen staff members live and work. Since 1991, the Foundation has made $140 million in grants to nonprofit organizations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Europe that impact society in inspiring and innovative ways, and those that provide disaster relief efforts both domestically and internationally.