House Bill 1605 and IMRA

House Bill (HB) 1605

HB 1605 was passed during the 88th Texas Legislature (Regular Session) and established an expanded process for the State Board of Education (SBOE) to approve high-quality instructional materials (HQIM), increased funding for HQIM, supported parent transparency with instructional materials, created clear teacher protection guidelines for planning time, and provided new requirements for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) review and revision. 

More specifically, HB 1605: 

• Created new criteria for instructional material review (now known as the Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) process).
• Required local school systems to establish a classroom instructional material review process.
• Mandated that publishers make IMRA-approved textbooks accessible online to parents.
• Tasked TEA to develop state-owned textbooks that are subject to approval by SBOE (now known as Bluebonnet Learning instructional materials).
• Provided optional teacher training for districts to utilize the materials and a related grant for educator prep programs.
• Allocated more funds to the Instructional Materials and Technology Allotment (IMTA).
• Established two new instructional materials funding entitlements (on top of the IMTA) for districts that choose to use SBOE-approved instructional materials or state-developed open education resources.
• Required a new vocabulary and book list addendum to the Reading Language Arts (RLA) standards.
• Created flexibility in the TEKS review and revision schedule.
• Prohibited the use of three-cueing in phonics materials.
• Mandated that teachers cannot be required to use bi-weekly planning time to create initial instructional materials unless there is a supplemental duty agreement with the teachers.​

Learn more about HB 1605 and its impact for local educational agencies (LEAs):

IMRA

The new Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) process replaces the former SBOE Proclamation and Texas Resource Review (TRR) processes. IMRA was enacted under HB 1605 and brings new components to a single, SBOE-governed review of instructional materials. It outlines how instructional materials will be reviewed, though the SBOE has final authority on approvals, the process, and the criteria used. 

The IMRA process involves a variety of stakeholders, including the SBOE, trained IMRA reviewers, TEA staff, and the public. Each stakeholder has a different role in the process but all work toward the same goal of delivering a final review report on all submitted materials. 

Following the review of instructional materials, the SBOE will vote to determine which materials to add to a list of approved instructional materials. Any instructional materials added to that list will be eligible for the new funding entitlements. As per HB 1605, the IMTA was restored in HB 1 to traditional levels (roughly $1B per biennium). In addition to IMTA, HB 1605 established two new Foundation School Program (FSP) entitlements for SBOE-approved instructional materials:  

• SBOE-Approved Instructional Materials Entitlement (TEC, §31.022 and TEC, §48.307): supports the purchase of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) approved by the State Board of Education; public school systems are entitled to $40 per student per year.
• State-Developed Open Education Resources Entitlement (TEC, §48.308): any school district that chooses Texas OER is entitled to an additional $20 per student to cover the costs of printing the textbooks. 

The inaugural IMRA Cycle 2024 is in its final stages while IMRA Cycle 2025 is just beginning. Visit the SBOE IMRA Webpage to learn more about the IMRA Process and review information related to each IMRA cycle: