The Edvantia Instruction and Learning Appraisal (ILA)
Focused on Parental and Community Involvement
West Virginia Parent Connections (WVPC) at Edvantia is one of the Parental Information and Resource
Centers funded by five-year grants from the U.S. Department of Education. Parent Information and Resource
Centers (PIRCs) help implement successful and effective parental involvement policies, programs, and
activities that lead to improvements in student academic achievement and that strengthen partnerships among
parents, teachers, principals, administrators, and other school personnel in meeting the education needs of
children.
The ILA provides an objective, external review of the quality of parent and community involvement and the
continuous improvement efforts in a school or district. The appraisal also enables a school or district to
monitor its own parent involvement program and to determine the effectiveness of its impact on and support
for student learning.
The purpose of the ILA and the resultant report is to offer an appraisal of the presence of two components
that research has shown to be critical to the establishment of 21st century partnerships. These components
include:
 Welcoming School Environments
 Linking to Learning
Using rubrics to focus their data collection, observers examine the nature of parent and community
involvement, the types of support provided, the activities used to strengthen involvement and the extent to
which student achievement corresponds with levels of involvement. Data collection includes reviews of
documents; classroom observations; focused walkthrough; interviews with teachers, students, parents,
community members, and administrators; and reviews of parent involvement services and programs. After
the observations are completed, data are analyzed by WVPC staff who prepare a report of findings and
recommendations for the school or district.
During an ILA, WVPC at Edvantia will conduct a one day visit that includes
 structured interviews with school or conduct district leaders to clarify concerns and priorities
 structured interviews with teachers, students, parents, and community members to document
perceptions of current practice
 classroom observations to obtain "snapshots" of parent involvement practices/strategies
 document reviews (e.g., policies, strategic plans, handbooks)
 analysis of data to identify the relationships among parent involvement (e.g., activities, trainings,
policies) and student achievement indicators (e.g., grades, test scores)
The ILA concludes with the delivery of a baseline report of findings, including recommendations and resources,
that can guide improvement planning and evaluation and a debriefing session with school or district leaders about
the report and findings.