The current trend toward collaboration is having an impact on the fields of adult basic education and adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and literacy education. This digest looks at collaboration for adult ESL programs and for family bilingual and ESL literacy programs. It discusses the distinctions among cooperation, coordination, and collaboration; presents a framework for collaboration; reports on uses of technology for collaboration; and explores ethical considerations, evaluation concerns, and policy issues. Each of these areas is examined in turn, and it is concluded that: collaborative efforts can offer better services than individual agencies can offer separately; the democratic nature of collaboration should benefit all participants--while providing the best services to clients. An inset briefly notes two successful collaborations in New Mexico, one urban and one rural. (Contains 10 references.) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on ESL Literacy Education) (LR)