This book discusses collaboration as it occurs in all of its varying contexts in schools, such as consultation between special education and general classroom teachers, collaboration among classroom teachers, collaboration between university faculty in special and general education, and collaboration between institutions of higher education and public schools. The book's approach contends that collaboration is a way of being and is not limited to isolated actions; it is a way of redefining how adults interact in schools. Part 1 presents a description of the shift to a collaborative paradigm in schools and suggests a multidimensional framework that encompasses four basic collaborative functions: facilitative, supportive, informative, and prescriptive. Part 2 considers the basic communication skills that form the foundation of any collaborative interaction. It provides a communication model, elaborates on ways to facilitate or inhibit communication when engaging in a collaborative dialogue, and addresses group dynamics. Part 3 describes how collaboration plays out in practice in four contexts: specific classroom and schoolwide problem solving, team teaching, school-university and agency collaboration, and school-family collaboration. Each chapter provides examples from practice to illustrate points made and contains a list of key points and activities to aid in relating concepts to individual situations. (Contains approximately 160 references.) (CR)