MINNEAPOLIS - Medtronic, Inc., (NYSE: MDT) has announced a series of Medtronic Foundation donations to Teach For America totaling $500,000 to provide advanced training for incoming math and science teachers. More than 150 first-year Teach For America corps members attended the Medtronic Math and Science Seminar last week at St. John's University in Queens, NY.

The weeklong, intensive training program represented a significant increase in the amount of training Teach For America provided to its corps members in a specific content area. As the achievement gap in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) widens between underserved and affluent school districts, and as the country continues to lose ground to the rest of the world in developing scientists, this pilot program is designed to prepare teachers for the challenges confronting many American classrooms today.

According to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) published by the U.S. Department of Education, in 2003 the average score for fourth-graders in the United States ranked 8th in science and 12th in mathematics in comparison with other participating countries.
"Given the subject-specific challenges of teaching math and science, as well as the pressing need to reduce the gap in math and science education, our corps members and their students will benefit significantly from specific preparation for STEM teaching methods," says Matt Kramer, president and chief program officer of Teach For America. "Medtronic's donation demonstrates a critical commitment to the education of the next generation of math and science leaders. Teach For America is thrilled to work with a dedicated partner who recognizes the magnitude of the crisis we're facing."

Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity.

"As a company built on science and technology, we recognize that Medtronic's continued success, and more importantly the improved health of the world, will depend on the next generation of scientific innovators," said David Etzwiler, executive director of the Medtronic Foundation. "Teach For America educators have had remarkable success in classrooms throughout the country. We want to provide the additional tools and training to enable these outstanding student leaders to better tackle STEM subjects."