Partnerships between local education agencies (LEAs) and institutions of higher education (IHEs) allow individual organizations to leverage their assets as well as expand and enhance their own knowledge bases. Two of the more prominent types of LEA-IHE partnerships in special education are Alternative Route to Certification programs and Professional Development Schools. In addition to a collaborative infrastructure, both partnership types described converge in a few key areas: addressing teacher shortages, innovative program design, shared responsibilities, and resources and contextual supports. These two partnerships can yield promising outcomes, but require the same amount of intensive, time-consuming work regardless of their different goals. To optimize LEA-IHE engagement, leaders should: build trusting relationships, develop a common vision, define and restructure roles and responsibilities, develop novel curricula, and establish shared governance structures. (Contains 1 table.)