Pacific CIMAP

PROJECT ABSTRACT

The Pacific CIMAP is a consortium established to address the common and unique needs of Pacific jurisdictions in implementing a system that meets the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standards (NIMAS) and the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) requirements, including educational media activities for those children with disabilities who do not meet the NIMAC eligibility requirements, but who need accessible versions of educational materials as determined pursuant to Section 614(d) of IDEA. The consortium is composed of the six Pacific Basin entities of the U.S. Territory of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the U.S. Territory of Guam, and the three Freely Associated States (FAS): The Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Considered unique states, these U.S. affiliated jurisdictions represent the outlying areas and freely associated states in the South and Western Pacific regions, with the majority population being the minority ethnic group of Asian/Pacific islanders in geographically remote and rural island communities.

The Pacific CIMAP, which stands for Pacific Consortium for Instructional Materials Accessibility Project, facilitates the collaborative commitment of the six Pacific Basin entities to build local and regional capacity for the development and implementation of the NIMAS and NIMAC requirements, as well as all other accessibility requirements.

The implementation of the NIMAS and NIMAC requirements is a very complex process and is developmental in nature (NIMAS Q&A, 2007). School districts throughout the nation, including the Pacific Basin, have been working towards complying with these requirements to ensure that the needs of children with disabilities who need instructional materials in accessible formats are met. These include children of pre-school age through 21, regardless of severity, with a visual impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, and/or with multiple disabilities in the Pacific Basin region.

With endorsements from the six Pacific Basin entities, the University of Guam Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (Guam CEDDERS) will serve as the facilitator of the Pacific CIMAP. Guam CEDDERS will be responsible for ensuring that the project goals are met for each Pacific Basin entity through accessing national experts and organizations on appropriate accessible formats, such as Bookshare.org.

The overall outcome of Pacific CIMAP is to implement and/or enhance each entity's system for providing timely educational materials in appropriate accessible formats for students with disabilities who are eligible for services under Part B of IDEA.

Goal 1: To increase the understanding and implementation of the NIMAS and NIMAC requirements through the development of Jurisdiction Implementation Teams (JITs) to serve as the local "cadre" for technical support. The objectives and activities include identifying JIT members (i.e. special education, technology, and data personnel) and providing a regional institute with follow-up on-site technical support.

Goal 2: To create and/or enhance each jurisdiction's system to address the NIMAS and NIMAC requirements, as appropriate, as well as to meet the accessibility requirements of Section 614(d) of IDEA that addresses children with disabilities who do not meet the NIMAC eligibility requirements, but who need accessible versions of educational materials. The objectives and activities include the Project Leadership Team reconciling conflicting statutes and policies related to the types of file formats for producing educational materials in accessible formats, and developing written procedures for providing accessible materials as per NIMAS and for other students who do not meet the NIMAC eligibility requirements.

Goal 3: To increase the knowledge and skills of local IEP teams for determining how student needs for accessible materials will be identified and how the need for NIMAC materials will be documented. The objectives and activities include the development of guidelines for the JITs to support the IEP decision-making process for identifying students in need of accessible materials.

Goal 4: To develop and/or enhance each jurisdiction's data management and tracking systems for managing NIMAS files and providing educational materials in appropriate accessible formats. The objectives and activities include an initial on-site needs assessment of technical capabilities, with facilitation of critical resources for the entities to manage their system.

Goal 5: To develop the capacity of the Pacific Basin to provide accessible materials for students with visual disabilities and other print disabilities through centralized coordination with Federal technical assistance providers, as well as vendors. The objectives and activities establish the mechanism to sustain each entity's capacity for providing educational materials in accessible formats, including the implementation of a data management and tracking system, through the resources of Guam CEDDERS to serve as the regional support beyond the project period.

Contact Information

Announcements

Pacific CIMAP Partners Present at OSEP Leadership Meeting

June De Leon, Guam CEDDERS Associate Director and Director of the Pacific Consortium for Instructional Materials Accessibility Project (CIMAP), participated in a panel discussion addressing "State Response to the National Instructional Materials Standard (NIMAS): An Opportunity" during the 2008 OSEP Leadership Conference held on August 27 in Baltimore, Maryland. With the theme of the conference being "Leading Together To Improve Outcomes," this particular session focused on implementation practices to ensure timely delivery of accessible instructional materials to students with print disabilities.

Panelists shared the experiences on innovative strategies, opportunities, and challenges from the areas they represent. Joining Ms. De Leon in the photo above were (L-R) Carmen Sanchez, panel facilitator, Arthur Albert, Executive Director, Special Education Program, Federated States of Micronesia; and Chuck Hitchcock, Director, NIMAS Technical Assistance Center, & Betsy Burgess, Director of Outreach, Bookshare.org.

A brochure featuring Pacific CIMAP and a brochure featuring the FSM's progress with the project were distributed during the meeting. These brochures are available for download in PDF and plain text formats through the links below:

Pacific CIMAP Presents at OSEP NIMAS-Related Directors' Meeting

The University of Guam CEDDERS recently presented on the Pacific CIMAP at the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) NIMAS-Related Project Directors' Meeting on May 6-7, 2008. The meeting was held at OSEP in Washington, D.C. Each project director was asked to prepare a presentation that answered the question, "How has my OSEP-funded project contributed to the implementation of NIMAS?" Also discussed was the topic of the challenges of implementation and how to best address these challenges collaboratively.

Download the PDF of the Pacific CIMAP Slideshow Presentation and video presented during the meeting using the links below:

Pacific CIMAP Slideshow Presentation (700 KB, PDF)

Pacific CIMAP Highlight Video (QuickTime Movie)

Low (4.1 MB) | Med (11.7 MB) | High (29.6 MB)

The Pacific CIMAP Outcomes Report, 2.19.09 PDF | TXT

Download Acrobat Reader

Download Quicktime Player