Achievement Values: Puerto Rico and the United States

Dr. Diego Colón assesses the nature of achievement values within the United States and Puerto Rican schools, and he finds that in the bicultural contact situations inherent in the United States and Puerto Rico, contrasting and conflicting differences in achievement values may be viewed as indicators of the modality in which achievement potential is actualized and/or inhibited.

Examining the approaches, similarities, and differences of achievement values, Diego Colón argues that Puerto Rican achievement value modalities need to be integrated into the United States educational system and enhanced in Puerto Rican schools in order to maximize academic performance and personal growth and development of students, in particular, the Puerto Rican student. The effects of the contrasting and conflicting nature of Puerto Rico and the United States achievement values constitute a major challenge in the quest for strategies toward the closing of the achievement gap within both school systems.