GREENVILLE — Greenville Independent School District officials will find out how their district ranks when state accountability ratings are released later this month.

Accountability ratings are slated to be released by the Texas Education Agency July 29. GISD officials, along with school districts across the state, will receive the ratings report July 28.

Campuses and districts can be rated Exemplary, Recognized, Academically Acceptable or Academically Unacceptable.

The five population groups that can be evaluated are: Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Economically Disadvantaged and Special Needs.

This year’s accountability ratings are different for several reasons.

“This is probably the year that his been the most speculative,” said Deputy Superintendent Carl Key.

Key said one major change will be to the race/ethnicity identifier, in which districts will be judged by both a state and federal standard.

“Whatever we get this year, we get for two years,” said Key.

Accountability ratings will not be released in 2012 as the state transitions from the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) exams to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR).

The elimination of the Texas Projection Measure (TPM) by TEA in April will also affect districts, many of them negatively, Key said.

TPM provided an opportunity for districts and campuses to receive credit for students who did not meet passing standards on state tests, but who demonstrate they are projected to pass in a subsequent year.

Accountability system reforms are desired by some elected officials.

Texas Representative Thomas Ratliff (R-Mount Pleasant) issued a letter stating his belief that the ratings offer little in the way of true accountability.

“The TEA assigns these one or two-word descriptions to entire campuses and entire school districts in an attempt to provide the public with a general indication of how that campus or district is performing academically,” Ratliff stated. “The problem is, they don’t. In fact, these rankings only tell the public how the lowest performing sub-group is doing.”

Ratliff stated that the TEA should have an accountability system that reports both the good and bad.

“We need a system that gives the customers (parents, students and local employers), the investors (taxpayers and voters), and the regulators (TEA and the Texas Legislature) a complete and accurate picture of the health of the entire education organization,” Ratliff stated. “While one or two word descriptions are easy and convenient to talk about, or for realtors to use when selling homes, we need more information to gauge the performance of our schools.”

Ratliff also summed up what the changes to the current accountability system mean to the average Texan.

“A lot of campuses and districts will drop in the ratings this year compared to last. In fact, some campuses or districts may have better overall performance on the TAKS test but end up with a lower rating from Austin,” Ratliff stated. “My message is simple. When you see the new accountability ratings come out later this month, don’t let the one-word Wizard of Oz fool you. Look behind the curtain and find out what is really happening at your local school district. Don’t let one adjective describe hundreds or even thousands of kids.”