Merck's philanthropy in general education is designed to increase the opportunity for academic success and close the achievement gap between low-income students and their middle- to high-income peers.

With this concentration, priority is given to organizations that offer educational opportunities and promote academic achievement in one or more of the following priority areas:

• Providing early learning opportunities and promoting literacy-rich environments;
• Creating clear pathways to college and improving college success; and
• Improving individual's health literacy and strengthening the link between health outcomes and success in school.

Programs must align interventions across multiple points in the education pipeline from early childhood to postsecondary education. Below are examples of key programs that Merck and The Merck Company Foundation support in this area:

Reach Out and Read—This program prepares America's youngest ch̵ildren—especially those growing up in poverty—to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. The program recruits pediatricians and nurse practitioners to make literacy a standard part of well-child visits for children ages six months through five years of age. Physicians distribute new books to children at each visit and advise parents on the importance of reading aloud to their children. They also provide parents with literacy strategies for all developmental stages. Additionally, Merck employee volunteers help model good literacy practices by reading aloud to children in a literacy-rich waiting room.

Zhima Jie Sesame Workshop Education and Outreach Program in China—Sesame Workshop offers an educational series in China that encourages children's natural curiosity about science and the world around them. By encouraging children to ask questions and explore those questions with appropriate experiments, this hands-on approach to science gives students an alternative to traditional, didactic, memorization-based instruction in China, which should improve critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Kindergarten Reading Corners will be created in 125 schools in rural China, improving the educational outcomes of children living in rural provinces.

Liberty Science Center's Young Learner Lab—National science leaders say that young children need opportunities to explore science by participating in enriching programs that also help develop literacy skills. The Young Learner Lab sessions at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey, are designed for children between the ages of three and eight, providing developmentally appropriate learning sessions on such topics as elementary geology, simple machines, local flora and fauna, engineering and architecture. Through the Young Learner Labs, children can develop early theories about scientific concepts that can stimulate their imaginative talk and play. Over time, these thought processes enable children to reflect on their theories by evaluating evidence and constructing new theories.

Teach for America—This well-known program is recruiting highly qualified mathematics and science teachers to work in K-12 public school districts in the Newark, New Jersey, area. Teach for America will assign 150 new mathematics and science corps members who are eligible to teach secondary education in New Jersey, which will triple the current corps size in New Jersey and address one of the most critical issues facing high-quality education for at-risk children.

Rutgers University Future Scholars Program—This program is designed to address the critical educational needs of promising but underserved students. The program identifies at-risk, low-income and first-generation students before they enter their eighth grade year. Mentors work with these students from eighth grade through high school to provide positive role models. The program also offers college-level developmental courses to prepare them for college. Should the scholars qualify and elect to attend Rutgers University, they will receive a four-year, tuition-free education.