The cultures, knowledge, and abilities of community members represent an important instructional resource that is often overlooked in schools that serve language minority communities. In developing parent involvement plans, LEAs should include LEP parents in their joint development as well as in decisions of what services parents can receive. For example, parents of LEP students might serve on school improvement and curriculum teams. Parents should be involved in an organized, ongoing and timely way in reviewing and monitoring the school parental involvement policy. For example, parents of LEP students, who themselves are non-English speaking, may be provided with native language materials to help their children maintain and develop their native language or learn content matter in their native language while they are acquiring English.
Effective schools have a wide range of parent involvement activities.
They help parents support their children's learning and development through such activities as parent education workshops, multilingual family learning activities, and native language parent groups. Parents are encouraged to volunteer or provide assistance at their children's school as well as support and participate in learning activities with their children at home. Some schools also support parents' educational needs. Schools that create parent resource rooms where parents feel welcome in the school. This facilitates interaction with other parents, conferencing with teachers, adult ESL or parenting skills classes, community meetings, and other activities involving parents.