"When three people are walking together, there must be a teacher for me."

Chinese proverb. Confucian Analects.

(The Columbia World of Quotations, 1996)

This Chinese proverb reminds us of three ways this issue of Topics in Language Disorders (TLD) on literacy partnerships provides a timeless message. First, different learners require varied forms of instruction. Not every individual with a language disorder benefits from the same teaching and therapeutic approach. Children of different ages, with varied strengths and needs across language systems and modalities require individualized intervention targets and approaches to fit their unique literacy-learning needs. Secondly, "walking together" can be taken as a metaphor alluding to enhancement of learning opportunities through cooperative planning by professionals and others who share a common goal but varied perspectives and training. Third, the proverb intimates that teaching-learning interactions can be situated in the walk of everyday activities. The authors of this issue describe approaches in which language-literacy activities are explicit but embedded within natural learning contexts.

In this issue of Topics in Language Disorders, Drs. Froma Roth and Diane Paul bring together a group of authors known for their work as clinician-researchers. As explained by the issue editors, this group's collaborative work was stimulated by discussions about partnerships for literacy in the context of a committee of the Division for Communicative Disabilities and Deafness of the Council for Exceptional Children, chaired by Diane Paul. True to the topic of this issue, the authors collaborated in conference calls to outline an address to the complex topic of best methods for supporting literacy learning by children with special needs. The group also planned presentations at national conferences of the Council for Exceptional Children and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Those activities led, in turn, to the design for this issue under the able leadership of issue editors Roth and Paul.

Readers will find reviews of the limited scientific evidence for collaborative approaches to literacy interventions. In addition to reviewing relevant literature, the authors use case examples to illustrate collaborative methods for working with children and adolescents across age ranges and targeting varied aspects of language-literacy learning. Thus, consistent with Confucius' saying, the issue provides a teacher for everyone-from readers interested in the background principles of literacy partnerships, to readers working to foster emergent literacy-learning and sound and word awareness, to readers helping students through the supports of writing lab instruction and assistive technology, to readers working to help high school students comprehend complex written texts as they read. In other words, we think that each reader interested in the topic of literacy-enhancing partnerships will find at least one teacher in this issue for him or her.

In introducing this issue on partnerships, long-time editor Dr. Katharine G. Butler and associate editor Dr. Nickola Wolf Nelson take this opportunity to comment on our partnership as well. Over the 25 years of the journal's existence, numerous issue editors, authors, and readers of TLD have benefited from Butler's generosity as a mentor and have admired her breadth of knowledge and collaborative partnerships that cross international as well as discipline boundaries. Nelson is one of many who has benefited from Butler's formal and informal teaching and mentoring.

Our formal partnership in editing TLD began with the 25th anniversary volume in 2005. With the publication of Volume 26, Issue 2, the partnership will continue, but with a seamless shifting of titles. Butler will continue her leadership role at the helm of TLD as Editor Emerita. Nelson will assume the formal role as Editor. We do not expect the nature of our partnership to change or any dramatic changes in the journal its readers have come to know and respect. As always, we welcome reader input and ideas for topics you would like to see addressed in future issues. We invite your continued communication with either or both of us. In the meantime, we are pleased to offer you this issue full of ideas and examples of partnerships for literacy.

Katharine G. Butler, PhD, Editor

Nickola Wolf Nelson, PhD, Associate Editor