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This paper aims to provide a framework for continuous, quality, low cost professional development opportunities at the university level to improve the quality of the instructional practices and/or curriculum used in the teacher education program.

Background of the design, needs assessment and implementation of professional development (best practice seminars) based upon the established best practices principles is described.

Provides information about the various seminars that were held each year based upon the faculty needs assessment which is administered biennially. This needs assessment is developed based upon input from the yearly Beginning Teacher Assistance Program survey, P‐12 Regional Professional Development Center Advisory Group, current research and yearly goals set by university departments.

A useful framework for other colleges and universities to provide continuous, quality, low cost professional development opportunities. At the very least, these seminars will raise awareness of current instructional practices and curriculum that is currently being used in P‐12 schools to raise student achievement. Hopefully, these “best practice” seminars will change instructional practice and curriculum at the university level to improve teacher education programs.

This paper fulfills an identified need in the field of continuous quality improvement in the field of teacher education and offers a very useful framework for establishing a design to complete professional development at the university level.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on social justice issues identified by American principals. A research question that guided this qualitative study was: do educational leaders relate to the concept of leadership for social justice?

The standardized protocol for focus group discussions was based on Krueger and Casey's work on how to conduct effective focus group interviews. Each focus group carefully followed the protocol, which was designed to give voice to the informants and not to be led by the moderator in preconceived directions. This procedure provided a framework to maintain consistency in eliciting and collecting information but not leading participants to discuss social justice issues just to please the researchers.

This paper both confirmed that principals are concerned with social justice and identified that some principals do not explicitly discuss issues that relate to social justice. Principals who raised social justice issues felt that leaders should be courageous enough to make decisions that are best for children, even though they may not be popular.

Qualitative research such as this adds to the breadth and depth of human understanding, but findings cannot be generalized to any larger population.

The term social justice has become pervasive in US academic discussions, yet there has been little dialogue with practitioners and even less data examined concerning if the term has any relevance to practitioners. This paper explores the voices of practitioners in relation to a pervasive term in US academic discourse.

Child abuse is no longer something we must talk about in cautious tones. The creation of the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse and the launching of a national awareness campaign in 1984 has resulted in a welcome but typical media blitz which has raised our consciousness but given little in the way of a solution. Parents are turning to the library for materials to help them introduce the hereto‐fore unspeakable of child abuse to their children.