One of the pressing issues facing public schools in the United States is the challenge of providing a quality education to English Learners (ELs). The vast majority of the teachers licensed at the authors' institution graduate with very little knowledge of how to work successfully with EL students. The need to prepare all teachers for work with special needs students has been addressed by a full department of special education faculty. Yet, in ESL and bilingual education they have only two faculty members, despite the continuing need to prepare all teachers for a growing population of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Teacher collaborations are proven strategies for helping students with diverse backgrounds, such as ELs, to achieve academic success. A collaboration between university faculty and ESL and bilingual teachers in area schools would, the authors felt, best serve the needs of their pre-service teachers as well as the needs of the schools and school districts in our service area. Realizing the continuing need to promote academic success for EL students, support EL and bilingual professionals in the field, and prepare all pre-service teachers for their work with culturally and linguistically diverse students, a collaborative program was developed between content area education faculty at the authors' university and EL and bilingual teachers in area school districts.