Teacher Quality Partnership

COLUMBUS, May 9, 2005 - Throughout his career, Robert Yinger has believed that partnerships among colleges, universities and public schools are the key to improving the academic performance of students. He has been driven by a belief that the single most important thing that schools can provide to ensure the success of their students is a knowledgeable, skilled and caring teacher.

As the Teacher Quality Partnership's first national research director, a position he will assume on May 14, Robert Yinger will be able to test these and other beliefs. Leading an unprecedented research collaboration of Ohio's 50 colleges and universities providing teacher preparation programs, he will coordinate multiple research initiatives designed to provide a better understanding of how the preparation and development of teachers affect their success in the classroom as measured by the academic performance of their students.

"As a university-based researcher, I have spent my professional life trying to define what we mean by quality instruction and determining how we can ensure that every student has qualified, skilled teachers," Dr. Yinger said. "TQP gives me the opportunity to continue that search in a collaborative environment with talented scholars who are committed to improving the way we prepare prospective teachers, providing better training to working teachers, and making teaching more attractive by creating better schools that help students achieve at higher levels."

Since 1998, Yinger has served as Dean of the School of Education at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Before going to Baylor, Yinger was Director of School-University Partnerships and Executive Director of the Cincinnati Holmes Partnership at the University of Cincinnati. At UC, he also directed the College of Education's Cincinnati Initiative for Teacher Education.

In addition to his position as TQP research director, Dr. Yinger, who earned a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Michigan State University, will have joint appointments in the departments of Educational Foundations and Teacher Education at the University of Cincinnati.

According to Nancy L. Zimpher, President of the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Yinger's return to the campus and to Ohio is good news. "Bob Yinger has a clear vision of how higher education can serve schools, communities and our entire state. He knows what it takes to prepare committed, caring and competent educators, just as he understands that every classroom must have a high-quality teacher. Bob is going to give TQP a well-articulated and ambitious vision of the future of the teaching profession, and he is going to make a huge contribution to UC," Zimpher said.

"Attracting Bob Yinger is a real breakthrough for our research partnership," said Sonja J. Smith, project director. "He is one of the nation's most respected teacher educators and scholars - a champion for public education and an advocate for schools in which teachers deliver good instruction and achieve high levels of success with all of their students."

Smith said Yinger is a skilled administrator with a proven record of success in coordinating the activities of large research teams and in communicating research findings with the degree of rigor and scholarship they deserve.

"TQP is an incredible opportunity," Yinger said. "As I begin my work here, I know that I will benefit from the leadership Daryl Siedentop has given to this partnership. As its Interim Research Director, Daryl has set the course for TQP and he has given our research partners a keen sense of direction. All of us are deeply appreciative for what he has accomplished during his time at the helm."

Launched in 2003, the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) is a comprehensive longitudinal study of how the preparation and development of new teachers affect their success in the classroom. Led by a Board of Directors composed of researchers at the University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton, The Ohio State University and Cleveland State University, TQP also is studying experienced educators to better understand the characteristics and strategies used by high-quality teachers.

Robert Yinger to Lead Ohio's Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP). Nationally-recognized Scholar is Hired as Research Director