In the 1950s, Sarason developed a close friendship and working relationship with Burton Blatt, the chair of the department of special education at New Haven State College. Burton Blatt was interested in working with Sarason because of Sarason's influential research on intellectual disabilities in the field of education. Both Sarason and Blatt were interested in the preparation of teachers, and they believed that teachers lacked training in how to make educational decisions based on observations of student behavior. To highlight this concern, Sarason, Blatt, and another researcher (Ken Davidson) wrote The Preparation of Teachers: An Unstudied Problem in Education. This book emphasized the importance of taking a historical and sociological perspective when considering school reforms, such as considering the history of teacher training programs and how that history may impact teachers’ current work.