A pair of much beleaguered local educational systems–the city’s public schools and City University of New York–have improved student preparation in recent years thanks to some innovative joint ventures, according to a new report published by Center for an Urban Future.

Two years ago, a report commissioned by Mayor Giuliani slammed CUNY for its low graduation rates. Since then, a partnership between chancellors Matthew Goldstein of CUNY and Harold Levy of the city’s public schools has helped turn some things around, finds CUF, sister organization to City Limits, in the new report, “Building a Highway to Higher Ed: How Collaborative Efforts are Changing Education in America.”

“New York is currently out in front of all other major cities in making public school and college collaboration a priority,” said Neil Scott Kleiman, director of CUF and author of the report. Standardized tests have been aligned, and perhaps most significantly, College Now is growing. Since 1999, the program has expanded from a six-campus program offering courses to a few high school students to a system of 13,000 high school students taking college-level classes on all 17 CUNY undergraduate campuses.

Of course, a good start always needs more work, and strengthening teacher training programs tops CUF’s list of things for CUNY to do. To obtain a copy of the report, call 212-479-3353, log on to www.nycfuture.org or e-mail neil@nycfuture.org.