Initial difficulties in the process of teaching 6 first-grade teachers to use reciprocal teaching in their classes, and the disappointing outcomes of the instruction, led researchers to several conclusions. Researchers realized that the beliefs teachers held about the nature of knowledge and the process of knowledge acquisition had a powerful role in determining the design and outcome of collaborative learning arrangements in class. It is argued that unless researchers attend to such beliefs and the educational practices that are shaped by them, they will be stymied in their attempts to implement findings regarding the benefits of collaborative learning in class. A second attempt to implement reciprocal teaching in the classes of a subset of the teachers resulted in outcomes that were in line with the positive outcomes of a pilot study. In this attempt, researchers took care to collaborate with teachers. Discussion begins with an exploration of beliefs and practices espoused by advocates of collaborative learning, and their relation to the beliefs that drive normative practice in today's schools. Concluding discussion focuses on three issues: (1) selecting collaborative learning tasks; (2) structuring collaborative interactions among students; and (3) grouping students in collaborative learning arrangements. (RH)