Families and schools are two of the central living environments of children. Their collaboration is therefore seen as an important factor in education, having a high impact on learning outcomes, motivation, and children’s health. Nevertheless, current research also shows potential tensions in the educational partnership of families and schools, as different opinions and expectations about goals, competences and roles in education can result in conflicts. Based on a nationwide survey of Swiss parents who assessed the school situation of their children (N = 1275), this study examined parent’s experiences, needs and expectations regarding collaboration with schools, with a focus on important issues such as involvement in educational decisions, inclusion, and health. Results show a generally high level of satisfaction among parents, which is particularly related to the emotional well-being of their children at school, the quality of collaboration, and the trust in schools and teachers, both for parents of children with and without special educational needs (SEN). Nevertheless, involvement in educational decisions is perceived as rather marginal. Furthermore, the results indicate that parents of children with SEN are less confident about their children’s future. They are also less optimistic about their children’s academic self-concept and slightly more dissatisfied with their children’s school. Parents’ attitudes toward inclusion showed a wide range of opinions: on the one hand, inclusion is seen positively in terms of developing students’ social skills or promoting a more inclusive society. On the other hand, however, the resources of the school and the skills of the teachers were sometimes considered as insufficient. Our findings provide important insights regarding the further development of the educational partnership between schools and families. Good collaboration between schools and families can create an environment that promotes students’ emotional well-being as well as their academic skills. The positive impact of this partnership has been demonstrated in numerous studies and contributes to the implementation of an inclusive healthy school.

Following the recommendations and conventions of the United Nations on inclusion, many educational systems provide inclusive support for children with special educational needs (SEN) within mainstream classrooms. In this context, multiprofessional planning of inclusive support is crucial and individual educational plans (IEPs) are essential tools for professional implementation of inclusive education. IEP should at the same time provide suitable and achievable educational goals for individual learners with SEN as well as lead to adaptations in teaching methods, fostering participation and curricular access. These two functions are somewhat contradictory. Despite the importance of IEP for the inclusive support of children with SEN, its practical implementation has been often discussed and questioned, focusing on the quality of educational goals and on the curricular access of children with SEN.This article investigates goal setting in IEP for children with SEN in inclusive classrooms. Domain and quality of educational goals are analyzed as well as important factors influencing goal setting in IEP. Furthermore, the curricular access of children with SEN is focused.One hundred and twenty-five situations of children with SEN in inclusive classrooms in Switzerland were investigated using teacher questionnaires. Goals in IEPs were analyzed using categories from the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (World Health Education, 2007) and criteria for rating goal quality in IEP. Curricular access was investigated measuring the curricular distance of educational goals from the Swiss–French mainstream curriculum.Results indicate an average to low quality of the goals. Most goals concerned academic topics (56%), and two thirds of the children had goals corresponding to the curricular level. Therefore, the curricular access can be judged as quite good. On the other hand, the question of the right to follow the child’s own pace with adequate curricular adaptations stays under scrutiny.