Senate Bill 6 from the 82nd Texas Legislature, First Called Session, 2011, created an instructional materials allotment (IMA) for the purchase of instructional materials, technological equipment, and technology-related services.
Each district and open-enrollment charter school is entitled to an IMA. The amount of the IMA is determined biennially by the commissioner and is based on the legislative appropriation. Districts and open-enrollment charter schools have access to their allotment through the educational materials ordering system known as EMAT.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires school districts to provide accessible versions of instructional materials to students who are blind or otherwise unable to use printed materials. Students with disabilities should receive materials in accessible formats at the same time as their peers receive their textbooks.
State-adopted accessible instructional materials, including braille, large-print, audio, and digital, are provided free of charge to eligible students, and the cost of these state-adopted accessible instructional materials is not deducted from the instructional materials allotment (IMA). However, if a district or open-enrollment charter school chooses to purchase accessible instructional materials that are not state-adopted, they are responsible for the cost of the materials and may use IMA funding to pay for them.
Note: Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) and Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) refer to the same thing: materials that are accessible to students and teachers with disabilities. The terms are used interchangeably on this page; AEM is the term used throughout EMAT.
Related Links
The following are helpful links related to AIM:
- Update AEM Student Enrollment for K–8 (PDF)
- Update AEM Student Enrollment for High School Courses (PDF)
- Requisition for State-Adopted Instructional Materials Electronic Files (PDF)
- Requisition for State-Adopted Instructional Materials for Teachers with Visual Impairments (PDF)
- Instructions for Shipping Surplus Braille and Large Type Instructional Materials (PDF)
Resources
The following are helpful resources related to AIM:
Texas Education Code, §31.028: Special Instructional Materials
Texas Education Code, §31.028, governs the ordering and distribution of special instructional materials.
Services for Students with Sensory Impairments
Information on the provision of services to children who are blind or have a visual impairment (VI), deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), or DeafBlind (DB).
Accommodations, Policies, Procedures, Resources, Training, and Presentations related to Students with Disabilities taking STAAR, STAAR-A, STAAR L, STAAR Alternate 2, and TELPAS
Information related to accommodation resources for students with disabilities taking the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) and Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) statewide assessments.
American Printing House for the Blind, Louis Database
The Louis Database contains information on approximately 421,331 titles in accessible formats, including braille, large print, sound recording, and electronic files.
Accessible Books for Texas
Accessible Books for Texas is a Benetech project funded by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that provides on-the-ground training and support to Texas public K-12 educators, parents, and students on accessible educational materials (AEM).
Bookshare
Bookshare is an accessible online library which has over 500,000 titles available to individuals with print disabilities. Through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Bookshare offers free memberships to U.S. schools and qualifying U.S. students.
Learning Ally
Learning Ally has 80,000 + human-narrated audio books available to individuals with print disabilities. The materials can be delivered through internet downloads and accessed using various mainstream and assistive technology devices. Through a contract with TEA, Learning Ally offers free memberships to Texas K-12 public and charter schools with qualifying students.
National Center on Accessible Educational Materials
This site serves as a resource to state and district-level educators, parents, publishers, conversion houses, accessible media producers, and others interested in learning more about AEM and the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS).
From the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA)website http://tea.texas.gov/Academics/Instructional_Materials/Accessible_Instructional_Materials/
