Private sector slightly increases investment in Research and Development activities in Puerto Rico despite reductions in other sectors

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PRESS RELEASE
DR. MARIO MARAZZI‐SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

April 13, 2018

INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS PUBLISHES SPECIAL REPORT FOR THE PREVENTION OF SCHOOL DROPOUT

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) today released the special report Early Detection System for School Dropouts for Public High Schools in Puerto Rico: Using Data to Provide Student Support, which provides guidance for the identification and early intervention of students who may be more likely to drop out of school before completing it.

According to the report, although the dropout rate for all grades in Puerto Rico has been decreasing (0.7% in the year 2015-2016 versus 0.9% in the year 2014-2015), the rates by educational level have been consistently higher at the higher level (high school) with 2.3% in the year 2015-2016 versus 0.7% in the intermediate level and 0.1% in the elementary level for that same year. These data justify providing special support to high school students in order to prevent them from dropping out of school.

To access the full report you can visit the following link: 694ec0e7b7a478691ca522cc_IEPR_Perfil_de_Emisiones_Toxicas_2016.pdf

An Early Warning System (EWS) is a series of defined and consistent procedures that, based on student data, allow the teacher to identify early students who are most likely to become school dropouts. “After the student is identified, this system allows the teacher, together with the school management, and subject to available resources, to assign the student one or more interventions with the purpose of reducing the likelihood of dropping out of school, without stigmatizing the student,” explained Dr. Orville M. Disdier, senior manager of Statistical Projects at the Institute and author of the report.

The characteristics or variables that were most important when predicting the probability of dropping out of school were: the results of standardized science tests, grades in English, grades in Spanish and unexcused absences. For example, as soon as a student scores a C in English or Spanish subjects, or accumulates 2 to 4 unexcused absences, they could be classified as having a “moderate risk of desertion”.

On the other hand, as soon as a student scores D or F in English or Spanish subjects, or accumulates a total of 5 or more unexcused absences, they could be classified as having a “high risk of desertion”. Depending on each case, the student may be assigned general or individual interventions. For example, general interventions could include sending written, telephone or electronic communications to parents/guardians and group workshops, and others. On the other hand, individual interventions could include personalized meetings and the assignment of a student mentor, among others.

With the Early Detection System or EWS, for its acronym in English, for School Dropouts, the Institute seeks to empower our teachers and principals with the best that science has to offer, in terms of early detection of students at high risk. As with almost any social problem, prevention is the key and for that we need tools to help us identify those students at risk in a timely manner.

“In order to be fully effective, of course, identification without intervention is totally ineffective. The intervention is up to teachers, principals and more broadly to the Department of Education, subject to the resources available to carry out some of these interventions. The purpose of this report is not to announce the interventions, but rather to identify students using scientific data in a way that is easy to implement in the classroom, and at the same time to appreciate how this knowledge can be used, we present some interventions that have been used in other places successfully and that in some instances already exist in Puerto Rico,” said Dr. Disdier.

For his part, Dr. Mario Marazzi-Santiago, executive director of the Institute, pointed out that Act No. 165-2011 of July 29, 2011 amended Article 1.03 of Law No. 149 of July 15, 1999 (Organic Law of the Puerto Rico Department of Education) in order for the Institute to develop, together with the Department, an EWS for school dropouts. “With the publication of this report, we are complying with our responsibility to the law, and establishing the theoretical and practical bases for the possible establishment, for the first time in Puerto Rico, of an EWS, which would unite us with the more than 31 states and territories of the United States that have this type of system,” said Dr. Marazzi-Santiago.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access. The IEPR has in its inventory, accessible through www.estadisticas.pr.gov, about 300 statistical products. In addition, it is a custodian and provides access to over 100 data sets or “data sets” through www.data.pr.gov And to over 40 tables and more than 6 thousand indicators through: www.indicadores.pr

In addition, as the leading entity of Puerto Rico's SDC, the IEPR manages the SDC portal, which contains the main statistical reports and publications of the U.S. Census Bureau on Puerto Rico, specifically those that are most in demand, such as annual population estimates; the Puerto Rico Community Survey and official statistics on Puerto Rico's decennial population and housing censuses, among others. The Puerto Rico SDC portal can be accessed through: https://censo.estadisticas.pr/

For more information you can visit our website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. In addition, you can follow us on social networks through Facebook accounts (Statistics.pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics).

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Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401

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PRESS RELEASE

Study presents sociodemographic characteristics and contrasts between the Dominican and Puerto Rican populations

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) presented the study: Dominican population in Puerto Rico: Sociodemographic characteristics and contrasts with the Puerto Rican population, 2015-2019, which focuses on detailing the sociodemographic traits that characterize the Dominican population living in Puerto Rico, as well as the differences between these by sex characteristics. As part of this research, various characteristics of the Dominican population compared to the Puerto Rican population were examined, providing contrasts between the sociodemographic scenarios of both populations.

The study begins by highlighting that the minority population with the highest presence among the inhabitants of Puerto Rico is the Dominican one with 59%, followed by the Cuban (13%), Mexican (9%), Colombian (4%) and Spanish (3%), being the five populations of non-Puerto Rican Hispanic origin that predominate in the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico.

The Institute's senior manager of Statistical Projects and author of this study, Alberto L. Velázquez Estrada, indicated that the data presented show, among others, that the Dominican population in general is older than the Puerto Rican population, which has been an old population for several decades. “This suggests a possible increase in the needs for health services that the Dominican population will require, due to conditions related to aging. In the near future, both the Dominican and Puerto Rican populations will be moving, in significant proportional terms, to seventy-year-old ages, which typically lead to the onset or worsening of certain health conditions,” Velázquez said. On the other hand, “the gender disparity in the Dominican population in terms of income, poverty and people outside the labor force is prominent. The differences point to a more complicated or difficult situation for Dominicans compared to Dominicans living in Puerto Rico,” added Velázquez.

For his part, the executive director of the Institute of Statistics, Dr. Orville Disdier, indicated that “for years the Dominican population has contributed significantly to the demographic diversity of Puerto Rico, so knowing data about their sociodemographic traits and their contrasts with the Puerto Rican population is important for the development of initiatives that improve the quality of life of both populations.”

Other data included in this study show that:

• Over the past three decades, the average annual number of air passengers from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico decreased from 335,000 (1990-1999) to 324,000 (2000-2009), and then to 214,000 in the most recent decade (2010-2019).
• The geographical distribution indicates a marked concentration in the northern area of San Juan, which is home to about 35% of the Dominican population.
• The Dominican population residing in Puerto Rico and born in the Dominican Republic comprised 90%, and those born in Puerto Rico were 7%.
• The majority of the Dominican population in Puerto Rico was female, being around 58% compared to 42% men.
• The median age of the Dominican population (49 years old) is 8 years older than the Puerto Rican population (41 years old).
• The total Dominican population was characterized by having the highest percentage of married marital status at 40%, followed by 32% never married, traits that are reversed in their order in contrast to the Puerto Rican population.
• The education attained and by sex of Dominicans showed:
  • Higher percentages in the trait of people with less than high school education, being higher in men (44%) than in women (38%).
  • In turn, there is a notable difference by sex in people with a high school level, with women accounting for 14% compared to men with 8%.

• With regard to the Dominican and Puerto Rican populations that achieved some post-secondary education, the data indicate that women in both populations are characterized by having a higher percentage of educational level attained.
• The percentage of Dominicans who were out of the labor force was much lower among men (26%) than among women (44%).
• In contrast to the Puerto Rican population, the percentage of people out of the labor force was much lower among the Dominican population than in the Puerto Rican population.
• Among the most common occupations of the Dominican population were household cleaners (9.2%), construction work (6.0%), janitors or building cleaners (4.4%), cooks (4.0%) and personal care assistants (3.6%).
• The Dominican population reflected a median income with a marked difference by sex of about four (4) thousand dollars ($4,011), being lower for Dominicans with a median of $10,842 compared to Dominicans with $14,853.
• This disparity of income by sex compared to the Puerto Rican population presents a similar pattern; Puerto Rican women reflected a lower median income than Puerto Rican men, in this case by about three (3) thousand dollars ($3,099).
• Just over half of the Dominican population in Puerto Rico (51%) was in poverty. Among Dominican residents, the percentage in poverty was higher than among Dominicans at 54% and 48%, respectively.
• Related to the health aspect, people with some difficulty hearing, seeing, cognitive, outpatient and/or self-care, reflected that out of every (10) Dominican people, two (2) of them have a disability, a finding quite similar to that shown by the Puerto Rican population.

To access the report, you can visit Publications.

About the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics

To learn more about the Institute of Statistics, you can access the website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. On social media through Facebook accounts (@statistics.pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR), Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) and LinkedIn (Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics).

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Contact: Idia M. Martinez, R-28, 787-603-3200

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