These items may be available in bound, unbound, kit, or package form and may consist of hardbacked or softbacked textbooks, consumables, learning laboratories, manipulatives, electronic media, and computer courseware or software. Instructional materials are funded as a categorical item in the General Appropriations Act. Each committee is composed of nine persons - four classroom teachers certified in the subjects under consideration, two supervisors of teachers, two lay citizens and one district school board member. The IMCs complete a training workshop and establish policies for the adoption of instructional materials.
Publishers then submit bids.
The IMCs meet, evaluate and review the instructional materials and bids. All state committees forward their recommendations to the Commissioner who makes the final decision as to which of the recommended materials are adopted. Following action by the Commissioner, the Department notifies the school districts of the recommended materials. Each local school district has the responsibility for evaluating, selecting, and purchasing approved materials for use in its classrooms. The Department of Education annually releases a Catalog of State-Adopted Instruction Materials on April 1.