Introduction
Although ongoing collaboration between classroom teachers and special ed-
ucation teachers is widely acknowledged (Nolet and McLaughlin 2005;
Mutch-Jones 2004; Friend 2007) to be essential to improve the learning of
students with special needs in inclusive classrooms, it is unfortunately not a
common occurrence. There are a number of possible reasons for this lack of
collaboration. Special education teachers are often responsible for fulfilling
the time-consuming requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, for example, administering batteries of tests, attending
meetings, and writing Individualized Educational Programs. In addition, the
primary subject of instruction in special education is literacy. During their
preservice program, special education teachers take many more courses in
literacy than in mathematics. Their inservice professional development op-
portunities tend to focus either on the legal aspects of their role or on literacy-
relatedtopics.
Classroom teachers also have pressures and requirements that may in-
terfere with time for collaboration, such as the testing and meetings associ-
ated with the No Child Left Behind Act, and administrative and nonteach-
ing responsibilities (e.g., bus duty, committee meetings).
Despite these barriers, many teachers, including those whose essays fol-
low, are able to make collaboration work. They make the effort because they
view the relationship as a form of professional development and because
they understand that their collaboration increases the opportunities for