Success Factors of High-Achieving Puerto Rican High School Students

This article describes the 4 success factors that 10 working class Puerto Rican urban high school students attributed to their high academic achievement. These success factors were (a) the acquisition of social capital through religiosity and participation in school and community-based extracurricular activities, (b) having a strong Puerto Rican identity, (c) the influence of these students' mothers on their academic achievement, and (d) the potential for caring teachers and other school staff to influence high academic achievement. These findings have implications for Latino/a education and recommendations are provided.