Achievement Values: Puerto Rico and the United States 1

Dr. Diego Coln 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 Coln 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.

Dr. Diego Coln has taught from elementary to the college level in Puerto Rico and in New York City. He completed his Ph.D. from New York University. Diego has coauthored a volume in Values Based Teaching Strategies and three volumes of Multicultural Social Studies curricula with the New York City Department of Education. Diego also has published two articles in value orientations and achievement with the City University of New York and in Madrid, Spain.

Dr. Diego Coln was a former director and professor of the College Discovery Program of Bilingual Studies in the Student Development Department of Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York.