It is important to understand some parents may need assistance with the school's culture and may not be able to support their children with homework or other activities. The school's culture consists of the common routines, practices, and traditions implemented by the faculty and staff in support of the campus. Communication through a weekly newsletter, school carnivals, and open houses are all part of a school's culture. In addition to cultural anxiety, parents may feel intimidated approaching school staff or faculty and may hesitate to ask for assistance due to language barriers. Strategies that involve parents in the academic lives of their children generally fall into three main categories (D'Angelo, Rich, & Kohm, 2012):
- Home-based involvement
- School-based involvement
- Academic socialization
Home-based involvement includes parents' engagement and participation in their children's schoolwork and supporting academic activities. School-based involvement requires parents' comfort in obtaining support from the school community. Parents must feel welcomed and comfortable to be able to communicate with campus leadership and staff. Academic socialization, which includes speaking to students about academic objectives and parent expectations, has the strongest positive association with academic outcomes (Hill and Tyson, 2009). LEAs must take an active role in these three main areas to create opportunities for open communication with families.
Continually working with parents to discuss the importance of education and helping parents reflect about their children's future is a vital component of building parental involvement. When LEAs build partnerships with families that respond to parents' concerns and honor their contributions, they are successful in sustaining connections that support improved student achievement (Henderson & Mapp, 2002).