Networks play an important role in today’s societies. As a consequence, some changes are being introduced in the political, educational, economic, cultural and social agendas. One of the most omnipresent forms of educational reform around the planet are school networks. In the education field, school-to-school support is emerging in many places (Chapman and Hadfield, 2010; Engvik 2014; Townsed, 2015). In this way, networking has become an inescapable strategy for school improvement (Muijs, 2015). In England, in particular, there are networking initiatives involving collaboration between schools. Chapman and Muijs (2013) collected the different types of federations in the English education system as a model of school-to-school collaboration:

• Networks where highly effective schools supported weaker schools for school improvement purposes.
• Networks where small schools collaborate to share resources, broaden curriculum, and ensure survival.
• Networks in which schools collaborated across phases to ensure smoother transitions across these phases.
• Networks of schools in which mainstrem schools collaborated with special schools to improve inclusion and provision for students with special education needs.
• Academy chains where schools are run by single sponsor.

On the other hand, Spain is presented as an example of country that is exploring the possibilities offered by networks in education. At present, networks between schools are a powerful research line in the literature, although, this country does not have the sophisticated networks of others such as England. However, there are some interesting Spanish studies about networks, collaboration and inclusion. These contributions focus on: (1) the good results of schools which are participating in educational networks and local improvement plans (Arnaiz y Azorín, 2014; Arnaiz, Azorín y García, 2015; Muñoz et al, 2011; Navarro et al, 2013; Parrilla, Muñoz y Sierra, 2013); (2) the question of how inclusive education can become a community project supported by networking processes (Parrilla, Martínez y Raposo, 2015); and (3) how to promote support networks in the framework of an inclusive school (Echeita et al, 2012). In the Spanish scenario, five types of networks for educational innovation have been defined (Fernández-Enguita, 2007): institutional, profesional, community, training and technological. Along with this, Murillo (2009) presents an alternative classification: networks of innovation in the classroom, networks seeking to improve certain schools and networks whose purspose is to impact on education through broader changes. According to the above, there are a great variety of networks and forms of collaboration. In Spain, the case of Catalonia includes collaboration between institutions as a response to the challenge to increase social and educational inclusion (Civís y Longás, 2015). In this local authority, there are collaborative network initiatives where school and communities are working together. The study of Longás et al (2008) explored the local educational networks, and concludes that these associations allowed greater openness of schools to their environment, provided social capital, and developed the values of horizontality, transversality, territoriality, and co-responsability. A school networks study in Andalusia concluded that participation in these alliances implied to exchange pedagogic experiences and to carry out collaborative projects (López et al, 2013). In this paper, we are going to explore the following research questions:

• What forms does collaboration and networking take in the Spanish education system?

• What type of networks are being developed across this country?

Some key aspects studied are aims and aspirations, areas of interest, organizational structure, benefits and incentives, network project and evaluation. 

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