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).

Linguistic Support
LEAs must ensure that linguistic supports are integrated into all programs and services for parental outreach activities. Because some parents may be apprehensive about actively engaging and participating due to their limited English skills, it is important for LEAs to support parents’ linguistic needs. Community organizations can be valuable allies in this effort. Through frequent participation in various academic and social contexts, linguistic abilities and content development are accelerated.

Linguistic supports may include

• encouraging native language support at home;
• using interpreters to help parents understand important documents (e.g. letters, bills, school records);
• sending home translated letters and documents;
• providing a bilingual homework help line;
• providing English as a second language (ESL) or financial awareness classes; and
• inviting guest speakers from community organizations such as libraries, medical organizations, or food agencies (USDE, 2015a).

Literacy Programs
Creating culturally and linguistically appropriate family education and literacy programs will assist parents and families of ELs and immigrant students to better understand the U.S. educational system. These supports also provide opportunities for parents to become active participants in their children's education.

The following are examples to consider when providing programs that enhance family education and literacy:

• Supplemental literacy programs to improve English language skills (e.g. school-related topics such as procedures, programs, services, and supporting students with homework)
• Technology education (e.g. basic computer programs and financial planning)
• Civic education training (e.g. local and state government system and LEA process and systems)

Below are some questions to consider when discussing the type of support the LEA is providing in the area of literacy:

• In what ways is the LEA or campus inclusive of all family cultures?
• How does the LEA or campus foster family relationships?
• How does the administration and staff provide professional development that supports an inclusive school community for the LEA or campus?

(21st Century Community Learning Centers, n.d.b.)

Building community partnerships can be beneficial to both the LEA and the community-based organizations. When considering community participation, it is essential for instructional programs to be designed to meet the cognitive and linguistic educational needs of ELs and immigrant students. In this way, community members become active participants in the education of children.

All LEA stakeholders must make a concerted effort to increase the level of commitment to establish partnerships between EL and immigrant families, school staff, and community organizations.

LEAs can create goals supporting cognitive and linguistic needs of immigrant students by partnering with community-based organizations. All stakeholders must build these partnerships to strengthen capabilities, connections, confidence, and cognition (4 C areas). Student learning and achievement is enhanced both in school and at home when partnership programs and goals are centered around the 4 C areas (Chu-Zhu, n.d.).

Through community partnerships, a variety of activities can be implemented. Below are examples of activities that can be coordinated with community-based organizations:

• Tutorials, mentoring, and academic or career counseling
• Programs of introduction to the educational system and civics education 
• Literacy programs and services with community–based organizations, higher education institutions, and private-sector entities with expertise in working with immigrant students and families (USDE, 2015b)

LEAs must frequently evaluate the parental involvement programs that are in place and focus on building relationships with parents. This helps create an open line of communication with school staff and administration. Schools, families, and other learning institutions must provide consistent support to help children achieve their academic potential (Harvard Family Research Project, 2010). Offering a variety of programs or services to families and identifying potential parent leaders who can demonstrate a positive commitment to their children's educational experience with other parents can increase overall academic achievement.