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Based on several regression specifications that control for a host of covariates, this article demonstrates that the quantity of undergraduate research experience was by far the most important determinant for increased graduation rates at a 100% Hispanic-serving institution. Our finding also shows a causal relationship confirmed by propensity score matching analyses. Results underscore the high impact but sometimes underestimated contribution of undergraduate research to academic success, even for teaching-oriented colleges.

Attrition rates in the first two years of graduate school are high and ∼50% higher for underrepresented students. Here we evaluate an online group coaching intervention using a controlled and an experimental group to determine its impact on skills that are likely predictors of student success, namely the Hallmark of Success indices developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Our intervention includes eight online coaching sessions (four prior to the first year of graduate school and four during the first year of graduate school). Coaching group sessions, led by certified coaches, address Resilience, Risk and Protective Factors, Accountability, Leadership, Teamwork, Professional Networking, and Self-Assessment. We evaluated the change in Hallmark of Success indices with a pre- and post-questionnaire of 44 items used to assess students’ self-evaluation in nine areas. Students in the experimental coaching group showed a significant increase in the Hallmark of Success indices in seven out of nine areas of student performance between the pre- and post-questionnaires compared to the null model of no changes between time periods. In addition, in all of the nine indices of success, we noted significant differences between the pre- and post-surveys for the experimental group. Our experimental design shows that our cost-effective coaching model improves student performance as perceived by the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers mainly close schools due to low performance or to austerity mandates. There is evidence about the consequences of closures due to low performance with respect to academic achievement. The literature is thinner regarding closures due to austerity pressures, however. Seeking fiscal economies, Puerto Rico closed 34% of its schools in two years, which would thus be one of the most intense school closings reported. Drawing from the availability of data at student level, we found that this broad consolidation had negative effects on the academic achievement of displaced students, especially at the primary school level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on several regression specifications that control for a host of covariates, this article demonstrates that the quantity of undergraduate research experience was by far the most important determinant for increased graduation rates at a 100% Hispanic-serving institution. Our finding also shows a causal relationship confirmed by propensity score matching analyses. Results underscore the high impact but sometimes underestimated contribution of undergraduate research to academic success, even for teaching-oriented colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico's economy was in a severe depression: the 2017 Gross National Product (GNP) adjusted for inflation was at the level of 1998, hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost, income inequality increased, and a debt crisis without precedents unfolded. The government and the (imposed) fiscal control board outlined a fiscal plan that described austerity measures and sustainable debt payments. Policies changed after the landfall of Hurricane Maria in September 2017: the economy showed moderate growth, thanks to the reconstruction of the island, but so small an expansion was not used to reduce austerity or to assist displaced families, but to raise debt payments. In this paper, we review the socioeconomic situation before and after Hurricane Maria and conclude with some policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]