Making high school more relevant emerged as an overarching theme at the first meeting of NYSUT's High School Initiatives Task Force in early February. That means more relevant curriculum; maximizing special subject areas that have high student interest; and availability of Career and Technical Education courses for non-college-bound students.

Those were some ideas discussed by the new task force established to assist NYSUT leadership in developing recommendations to reduce the drop-out rate in New York state. The task force is composed of high school practitioners representing a range of subjects and support services from around the state.

The task force's first meeting focused on possible barriers to education, including a lack of adolescent literacy programs, lack of student preparedness, poor school environment, attendance issues, a need for more counselors and other support services and a lack of parental engagement.

Recommendations for further research for topics at the next meeting, May 14, include: review of national studies to find successful middle and high schools' eighth-grade test scores for English language arts and math; research on drop-out rate and graduation data for students of color; gender achievement gaps; and research on middle-level truancy and whether class size influences graduation rates.

The task force, which is expected to issue recommendations by the end of this year, will also be seeking input from students and parents. The statewide graduation rate for the class of 2006 was 67 percent, state officials reported.