IMCAT, or the Instructional Materials Coordinators’ Association of Texas, is on a mission to support and serve the instructional material coordinator community by sharing their expertise and knowledge. Jeff Funderburgh, President-Elect of IMCAT, and Maira Garcia, Training Committee Chair of IMCAT, spoke with JW Marshall about IMCAT and how they train and assist instructional materials coordinators to best serve their school districts and students throughout Texas.

Funderburgh also ensures instructional material delivery to over 25,000 students in his role at Birdsville ISD near Fort Worth, while Garcia also serves as the Instructional Materials Coordinator for McAllen ISD in South Texas.

IMCAT began in 1991 as an outlet to help coordinate, share best practices, and make the overall job of facilitating instructional materials easier for the community at large throughout the state of Texas. Over the years, IMCAT’s grown to over six hundred members, with representatives in every region in the state. “We navigate the EMAT and state regulations and keep our districts in compliance with the law,” Funderburgh said.

Keeping up with regulations is no easy feat, with updates occurring every year. So, having an organization that can assist with keeping up with regulations is an invaluable asset for school districts. At IMCAT’s summer institute program, new instructional materials coordinators have an opportunity to learn the ropes and get ready for the upcoming school year. “Our big focus on summer institute is training those new coordinators and providing updates to those coordinators who’ve been with us for a while,” Garcia said. Garcia added that IMCAT facilitates the process with them to focus on the critical components they need to know about their job. “We try to be an organization that’s big on support and just helping other people.”