Recognizing typical problems with staff development, the administration and teachers of a local school district and a team of reading and special education faculty united in a collaborative staff development model designed for the purpose of improving literacy. The purpose of the partnership was to implement a model staff development program that would result in improvement of teachers' skills in teaching literacy and effect improvement in children's literacy. Through this collaborative model, the participants in the partnership experienced the dynamic impact that a cooperative staff development program can have on administrators, university faculty, university students, elementary teachers, and their students. (Contains 1 figure.)