Beyond assessments: Exploring strategies for Afro-Descendant students’ success in Costa Rica

Published: Jun 7, 2023

Abstract:

Purpose: This research aims to critically analyze the potential ramifications of comprehensive assessments on marginalized communities, with a specific focus on Afro-descendant students in the Caribbean/Atlantic region of Costa Rica. It intends to identify the potential effects of these assessments and propose policy and practice adjustments that can enhance their educational outcomes.

Research methodology: This research analyzes the recent assessment requirements and the historical background of educational assessments in Costa Rica and explores alternative teaching methods, including culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) and the impact of the dialect and language continuum. Furthermore, the potential benefits of integrating the International Baccalaureate (IB) philosophy into the curriculum of all public schools are also investigated.

Results: Based on the analysis conducted, recommendations for policy and practice changes to address the potential impact of assessments on Afro-descendant students include creating a culturally responsive curriculum, recognizing non-standard dialects, using alternative assessment approaches, and emphasizing consideration of marginalized communities' needs and experiences in educational policy and practice decisions.

Limitations: This review does not provide an empirical investigation but rather synthesizes existing literature and provides recommendations for future research.

Contribution: This research significantly contributes to the existing literature on educational policy and practice in marginalized communities, particularly in relation to students of African descent in Costa Rica and suggests ways to improve their educational outcomes. Its insight can be of interest to policymakers, educators, and future researchers in education and social justice.

Keywords:
1. Comprehensive Assessments
2. Afro-descendants
3. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
4. International Baccalaureate (IB) philosophy
5. Dialect and Language Continuum
Authors:
Dianala M. Bernard
How to Cite
Bernard, D. M. (2023). Beyond assessments: Exploring strategies for Afro-Descendant students’ success in Costa Rica. Journal of Social, Humanity, and Education, 3(3), 253–269. https://doi.org/10.35912/jshe.v3i3.1475

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Issue & Section
References

    Abarca, A., & Ramírez-Varas, S. A. (2023). A farewell to arms the peace dividend of Costa Rica's army abolition. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4325946

    Aguilar-Sánchez, J. (2018). Framing and understanding the linguistic situation found in Limón, Costa Rica through the study of language attitudes. Revista de Filología y Lingüística de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 44(2), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.15517/rfl.v44i2.34693

    Aguilar-Sánchez, J. (2022). Diglosia y contacto lingüístico en Limón, Costa Rica. LETRAS, 72, 129–161. https://doi.org/10.15359/rl.2-72.6

    Alfaro Víquez, H. (2022a). Are they ready?: A study about preservice mathematics teachers’ education in Costa Rica. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-2557-2

    Alfaro Víquez, H. (2022b). Costa Rican preservice mathematics teachers' readiness to teach. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 17(2), em0676. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/11712

    Arnold, J., Arriola, C., Kowalski, P., Schwellnus, C., & Webb, C. (2023). Post-COVID-19 trade scenarios and priorities for Latin America. https://doi.org/10.1787/ea76ade5-en

    Baiocchi, A. M. (2022). Afro-descendants in Costa Rica: A movement for justice & equity. https://www.globalissues.org/news/2022/01/11/29788

    Bau, N., Das, J., & Chang, A. Y. (2021). New evidence on learning trajectories in a low-income setting. International Journal of Educational Development, 84, 102430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102430

    Beech, J., Del Monte, P., & Guevara, J. (2022). Opening access to privilege: The enactment of the IB in public schools in Costa Rica and Peru. Globalization, Societies and Education, 20(2), 214–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2138274

    Bello, M. B. (2023). An understanding of Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed". Canadian Journal of Family and Youth/Le Journal Canadien de Famille et de la Jeunesse, 15(1), 225–231. https://doi.org/10.29173/cjfy29905

    Bernard, D. M. (2023). Rethinking "Educación Diversificada" for Afro-descendants in Costa Rica. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(14), 49-58. https://doi.org/10.7176/JEP/14-4-07

    Bujanda, M. E., Muñoz, L., & Zúñiga, M. (2018). Initiatives and implementation of the twenty-first century skills teaching and assessment in Costa Rica. In E. Care, P. Griffin, M. Wilson (Eds.), Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills. Educational assessment in an Information Age (1st ed., pp. 163–178). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65368-6_10

    Butera, F., Batruch, A., Autin, F., Mugny, G., Quiamzade, A., & Pulfrey, C. (2021). Teaching as social influence: Empowering teachers to become agents of social change. Social Issues and Policy Review, 15(1), 323–355. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12072

    Casadellà, M., Massip-Sabater, M., González-Monfort, N., Dias-Gomes, A., & Barroso-Hortas, M.-J. (2022). Imagination, education for the future and democratic culture: Educational policies in the Iberian Peninsula. (Spanish). Communicate, 30(73), 57–67. https://doi.org/10.3916/C73-2022-05

    Central Intelligence Agency – CIA (2023). The world factbook: Costa Rica. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/costa-rica

    Chacón, N. G. (2023). Symbolic loss of education as a human right. Costa Rica is an exponent of a trend in Latin America. Journal of Educational Policies, 17(2), 1–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.5380/jpe.v17i2.86423

    Chan, A. (2022). Cultural diversity in early childhood education. In Oxford Bibliographies in Education. DOI:10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0289

    Chango Andrango, D. V. (2023). Decolonization is a challenge for education. Retrieved from https://apni.ru/media/ai_2_2_2023.pdf#page=60

    Chela-Flores, G. (2022). La división dialectal del español. In Dialectología Hispánica (pp. 18–26). Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9780429294259-4

    Chufama, M., & Sithole, F. (2021). The pivotal role of diagnostic, formative and summative assessment in higher education institutions’ teaching and student learning. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Publications, 4(5), 5–15. http://ijmrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/IJMRAP-V4N4P107Y21.pdf

    Coleman, L. (2023). Our language belongs in our learning: A culturally responsive approach to improving literacy rates in West Philadelphia. ENGAGE!, 5(1), 8–20. https://doi.org/10.18060/26531

    Crogman, H., & Jackson, M. (2023). Unshackling learning. In Integrated Education and Learning (pp. 255–280). Cham: Springer International Publishing. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-15963-3_15

    Devi, K. (2022). Equitable and inclusive education with special reference to National Educational Policy (NEP) 2020. Special Education, 1(43), 7017–7023. https://www.sumc.lt/index.php/se/article/view/970

    Dixon, K., & Caldwell, K. L. (2023). Afro-social movements and the struggle for racial equality in Latin America. In F. M. Rossi (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Social Movements (pp. 370-383). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1725

    El Guardian (2022). President Rodrigo Chaves says, "No more FARO tests." Retrieved from https://elguardian.cr/presidente-rodrigo-chaves-dice-no-mas-pruebas-faro/

    Ferguson, A. S. (2023). Two steps forward and one step back: A case study exploring anti-racist professional development for educators and the barriers that derail progress toward transformational action [Master's thesis, Oregon State University]. https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/41687r914

    Freidus, A., & Ewing, E. L. (2022). Good schools, bad schools: Race, school quality, and neoliberal educational policy. Educational Policy, 36(4), 763–768. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048221087208

    Galloway, M. K., Callin, P., James, S., Vimegnon, H., & McCall, L. (2019). Culturally responsive, antiracist, or anti-oppressive? How language matters for school change efforts. Equity & Excellence in Education, 52(4), 485–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2019.1691959

    García Segura, A. (2019). Education tensions among the Bribri. In Costa Rican Traditional Knowledge According to Local Experiences: Plants, Animals, Medicine and Music, pp. 143–158. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-06146-3_10

    Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.

    Ginsberg, A., Gasman, M., & Samayoa, A. C. (2023). For the love of teaching: How minority-serving institutions are diversifying and transforming the profession. Teachers College Press.

    Guskey, T. R. (2022). Implementing mastery learning. Corwin Press.

    Howard, N. R., & Howard, K. E. (2021). Preparing for powerful progress: Ensuring equity when supporting Black students. In J. W. Lalas & H. L. Strikwerda (Eds.), Minding the Marginalized Students Through Inclusion, Justice, and Hope: Daring to Transform Educational Inequities (pp. 77–94). Emerald Group Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620210000016005

    Hua, Z., & Gao, X. (2021). Language, culture and curriculum: Lived intercultural experience of international students. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 34(4), 458–465. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1871003

    Imchen, A., & Ndem, F. (2020). Addressing the learning crisis: An urgent need to better finance education for the poorest children. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/reports/addressing-learning-crisis-2020

    Irons, A., & Elkington, S. (2021). Enhancing learning through formative assessment and feedback. Routledge.

    Ismail, S. M., Rahul, D. R., Patra, I., & Rezvani, E. (2022). Formative vs. summative assessment: Impacts on academic motivation, attitude toward learning, test anxiety, and self-regulation skill. Language Testing in Asia, 12(1), 40. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-022-00191-4

    Javadi, Y., & Tahmasbi, M. (2020). Application of humanism teaching theory and humanistic approach to education in the course. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 10(1), 40–48. DOI: 10.17507/tpls.1001.06

    Joseph-Haynes, M., Rodríguez, C. A. W., & Castillo, Y. R. (2021). Limonese syllable structure: Language innovation in Creoles. In When Creole and Spanish Collide (pp. 100–125). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004460157_006

    Karata?, S., Eckstein, K., Noack, P., Rubini, M., & Crocetti, E. (2023). Meeting in school: Cultural diversity approaches of teachers and intergroup contact among ethnic minority and majority adolescents. Child Development, 94(1), 237–253. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13854

    Ladson-Billings, G. (1990). Like lightning in a bottle: Attempting to capture the pedagogical excellence of successful teachers of Black students. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 3(4), 335–344. DOI: 10.1080/0951839900030403

    Ladson-Billings, G. (1994a). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. Jossey-Bass.

    Ladson-Billings, G. (1994b). What we can learn from multicultural education research. Educational Leadership, 51(8) (1994), 22–26. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ508261

    Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97(1), 47–68. DOI: 10.1177/016146819509700104

    Ladson-Billings, G. (2022). The Dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. John Wiley & Sons.

    Leach, N. (2022). Impactful learning environments: A humanistic approach to fostering adolescents’ postindustrial social skills. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 62(3), 377–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167818779948

    Leung, G. A., & Loschky, M. (2021). When Creole and Spanish collide. In When Creole and Spanish Collide. Brill.

    López, N. A., Gonzáles, M. M., & Laboulais, C. N. (2021). Design of a tourist communication plan that shows the matrilineal cultural heritage of the Bribri people (Talamanca, Costa Rica). Trama Magazine, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.18845/tramarcsh.v10i2.6303

    Maire, Q. (2021). The IB diploma and the nation-state: Positional competition and academic distinction. In Credential Market. International Study of City Youth Education, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80169-4_3

    Makara, K. A., & Kuusinen, C. M. (2023). Academic help-seeking is a process of seeking formative feedback on learning. In Remembering the Life, Work, and Influence of Stuart A. Karabenick (Vol. 22, pp. 69-90). Emerald Publishing Limited. DOI: 10.1108/S0749-742320230000022006

    Maravalle, A., & González Pandiella, A. (2023), Improving the quality and efficiency of education and training in Costa Rica to better support growth and equity, In OECD Economic Surveys: Costa Rica 2023, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/8d6e7009-en

    Milner, H. R. (2010). What does teacher education have to do with teaching? Implications for diversity studies. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1-2), 118–131. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109347670

    Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2022a). In the face of the "educational blackout", MEP launches a strategy to "turn on the light together." Retrieved from https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/ante-%E2%80%9Capagon-educativo%E2%80%9D-mep-lanza-estrategia-%E2%80%9Cencender-juntos-luz%E2%80%9D

    Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2022b). Considerations that Costa Ricans should know about financing public universities. Retrieved from https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/consideraciones-costarricenses-deben-saber-sobre-financiamiento-universidades-publicas

    Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2023a). Ruta de la educación proposes a new approach to education based on the citizen that we want the system to form. Retrieved from https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/ruta-educacion-plantea-nuevo-abordaje-educacion-basado-ciudadano-queremos-sistema-forme

    Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2023b). More than a thousand students in the country start the 2023 academic year in International Baccalaureate. Retrieved from https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/mas-mil-estudiantes-pais-inician-curso-lectivo-2023-bachillerato-internacional

    Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2023c). First lady and minister of education participate in the virtual inauguration of the "Bridges for English" program. Retrieved from https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/primera-dama-ministra-educacion-participan-inauguracion-virtual-programa-%E2%80%9Cpuentes-ingles%E2%80%9D

    Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2023d). Comprehensive tests application begins for the recovery of learning in the country. Retrieved from https://mep.go.cr/noticias/inicia-aplicacion-pruebas-comprensivas-recuperacion-aprendizajes-pais

    Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2023e). Institutional plans and policies. Retrieved from https://mep.go.cr/transparencia-institucional/planes-institucionales

    Mitchell-Walthour, G., Cotito, M. N., & Hernández, T. K. (2023). Race, gender, class and public policies in Latin America and Andean countries. In The Routledge Handbook of Urban Studies in Latin America and the Caribbean (pp. 561–578). Routledge.

    Montenegro, S. A. M. (2021). Costa Rica's educational scenario in times of COVID-19 pandemic. Educational Media International, 58(2), 202–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2021.1930483

    Müller-Using, S., Vargas Porras, A. (2021). The education system of Costa Rica. In S. Jornitz & M. Parreira do Amaral (Eds.), The Education Systems of the Americas. Global Education Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41651-5_6

    Myyry, L., Karaharju-Suvanto, T., Virtala, A. M. K., R Raekallio, M., Salminen, O., Vesalainen, M., & Nevgi, A. (2022). How self-efficacy beliefs are related to assessment practices: A study of experienced university teachers. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 47(1), 155–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.1887812

    Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD (2021). Costa Rica: Ensuring equal opportunities for students across socio-economic backgrounds. Retrieved from https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/9cc07f93-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/9cc07f93-en#section-d12020e3696

    Pacheco, M. Á. Q. (2023). El español en las repúblicas centroamericanas. In Dialectología Hispánica (pp. 371-382). Routledge.

    Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (2014). What are we seeking to sustain through culturally sustaining pedagogy? A loving critique forward. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 85–100. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.982l873k2ht16m77

    Pasternak, D. L., Harris, S. D., Lewis, C., Wolk, M. A., Wu, X., & Evans, L. M. (2023). Engaging culturally responsive practice: Implications for continued learning and teacher empowerment. Teaching and Teacher Education, 122, 103976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103976

    Paulsrud, D. (2022). Inclusion in the light of competing educational ideals: Swedish Policy approaches to differentiation and their implications for inclusive education. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 8(3), 171–183.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2022.2083053

    Pihen González, E., & Arya, D. J. (2022). Understanding ESD: Perceptions and views from Guatemalan, Nicaraguan and Costa Rican educators. Environmental Sciences Proceedings, 15(1), 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/environsciproc2022015045

    Razza, C. M. (2018). Social exclusion: The decisions and dynamics that drive racism. Demos. https://www.demos.org/research/social-exclusion-decisions-and-dynamics-drive-racism

    Robinson, R. C. (2022). The linguistic challenge for standards. Standards, 2(4), 449–459. https://doi.org/10.3390/standards2040030

    Robles, F., & Wiese, N. M. (2023). Business in Latin America: Strategic opportunities and risks. Taylor & Francis.

    Rodríguez-Martínez, C., Martín-Alonso, D., & Marrero-Acosta, J. (2022). Políticas educativas y equidad: Introducción al monográfico. (Spanish). Education Policy Analysis Archives, 30, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.30.7537

    Rodriguez, A. J., & Navarro-Camacho, M. (2022). Exposing the invisibility of marginalized groups in Costa Rica and promoting pre-service science teachers’ critical positional praxis. In Equity in STEM Education Research: Advocating for Equitable Attention (pp. 125–146). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

    Sama, R., Adegbuyi, J. Y., & Ani, M. I. (2021). Teaching to the curriculum or teaching to the test. Journal of Social, Humanity, and Education, 1(2), 103–116. https://doi.org/10.35912/jshe.v1i2.341

    Samuels, D., & Vargas, T. R. (2023). Democracy, rural inequality, and education spending. World Development, 162, 106136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106136

    Saraví, G. A. (2022). Youth social exclusion in Latin America. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.357

    Sarfa, M. M. N., & Danushka, S. A. N (2021). Impact of formative assessment mode on summative assessment of upper-secondary school students. International Research Symposium – 2021. University of Vocational Technology.

    Sharpe, M. S. (2021). Lexical transfer from Spanish into Limonese Creole. In When Creole and Spanish Collide (pp. 82–99). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004460157_005

    Smagorinsky, P. (2022). The creation of national cultures through education, the inequities they produce, and the challenges for multicultural education. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 24(2), 80–96. https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v24i2.3027

    Solano Rivera, S. E., & Ramírez Caro, J. (2019). Nacionalismo asimilacionista en el ideario educativo de Gagini, Dobles Segreda y Dengo. https://rio.upo.es/xmlui/handle/10433/8422

    Soler-Gallart, M. (2023). Pedagogy of the oppressed: 50th-anniversary edition. Int Rev Educ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-023-09992-y

    Sotomayor, H. T. (2022). Emerging paradigm: New approach to valuing learning processes. Revista Académica Arjé, 5(1), 407–432. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7015828

    Tulasi, L., & Rao, C. S. (2021). A review of humanistic approach to student centred instruction. The Review of Contemporary Scientific and Academic Studies, 1(1), 1–5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359135657_A_Review_of_Humanistic_Approach_to_Student_Centred_Instruction

    United Nations – UN (2022). Costa Rica, the UN and the transforming education summit: An opportunity to reaffirm education as a core global priority. Retrieved from https://unsdg.un.org/latest/blog/costa-rica-un-and-transforming-education-summit-opportunity-reaffirm-education

    United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO (2023). UNESCO unveils new report on the future of education. Retrieved from https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-unveils-new-report-futures-education

    Universidad de Costa Rica – UCR (2019). Vallecentrism creates inequality in the regions of the country. Retrieved from https://www.ucr.ac.cr/noticias/2019/10/03/el-vallecentrismo-crea-desigualdad-en-las-regiones-del-pais.html

    Universidad de Costa Rica – UCR (2022). The UCR is committed to Costa Rican Afro-descendants. Retrieved from https://www.ucr.ac.cr/noticias/2022/08/30/la-ucr-esta-comprometida-con-la-afrodescendencia-costarricense.html#

    Villegas, A. M., & Lucas, T. (2002). Preparing culturally responsive teachers: Rethinking the curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(1), 20–32. DOI: 10.1177/0022487102053001003

    Wilcox, K. C., & Lawson, H. A. (2022). Advancing educational equity research, policy, and practice. Education Sciences, 12(12), 894. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120894

    World Bank (2023). Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) – Costa Rica. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS?locations=CR

    World Development Report (2018). Learning to realize education’s promise. The World Bank. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2018#

    World Development Report (2021). Data for better lives. The World Bank. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2021

    Yang, Q. (2023). Should standardization tests be used to assess student ability? - An evaluation of the effects of standardization tests. Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 8, 319–326. https://doi.org/10.54097/ehss.v8i.4268

    Zakharov, A., & Carnoy, M. (2021). Does teaching to the test improve student learning? International Journal of Educational Development, 84, 102422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102422

    Zhang, Y., Sun, S., Ji, Y., & Li, Y. (2023). The consensus of global teaching evaluation systems under a sustainable development perspective. Sustainability, 15(1), 818. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010818

  1. Abarca, A., & Ramírez-Varas, S. A. (2023). A farewell to arms the peace dividend of Costa Rica's army abolition. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4325946
  2. Aguilar-Sánchez, J. (2018). Framing and understanding the linguistic situation found in Limón, Costa Rica through the study of language attitudes. Revista de Filología y Lingüística de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 44(2), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.15517/rfl.v44i2.34693
  3. Aguilar-Sánchez, J. (2022). Diglosia y contacto lingüístico en Limón, Costa Rica. LETRAS, 72, 129–161. https://doi.org/10.15359/rl.2-72.6
  4. Alfaro Víquez, H. (2022a). Are they ready?: A study about preservice mathematics teachers’ education in Costa Rica. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-2557-2
  5. Alfaro Víquez, H. (2022b). Costa Rican preservice mathematics teachers' readiness to teach. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 17(2), em0676. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/11712
  6. Arnold, J., Arriola, C., Kowalski, P., Schwellnus, C., & Webb, C. (2023). Post-COVID-19 trade scenarios and priorities for Latin America. https://doi.org/10.1787/ea76ade5-en
  7. Baiocchi, A. M. (2022). Afro-descendants in Costa Rica: A movement for justice & equity. https://www.globalissues.org/news/2022/01/11/29788
  8. Bau, N., Das, J., & Chang, A. Y. (2021). New evidence on learning trajectories in a low-income setting. International Journal of Educational Development, 84, 102430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102430
  9. Beech, J., Del Monte, P., & Guevara, J. (2022). Opening access to privilege: The enactment of the IB in public schools in Costa Rica and Peru. Globalization, Societies and Education, 20(2), 214–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2138274
  10. Bello, M. B. (2023). An understanding of Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed". Canadian Journal of Family and Youth/Le Journal Canadien de Famille et de la Jeunesse, 15(1), 225–231. https://doi.org/10.29173/cjfy29905
  11. Bernard, D. M. (2023). Rethinking "Educación Diversificada" for Afro-descendants in Costa Rica. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(14), 49-58. https://doi.org/10.7176/JEP/14-4-07
  12. Bujanda, M. E., Muñoz, L., & Zúñiga, M. (2018). Initiatives and implementation of the twenty-first century skills teaching and assessment in Costa Rica. In E. Care, P. Griffin, M. Wilson (Eds.), Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills. Educational assessment in an Information Age (1st ed., pp. 163–178). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65368-6_10
  13. Butera, F., Batruch, A., Autin, F., Mugny, G., Quiamzade, A., & Pulfrey, C. (2021). Teaching as social influence: Empowering teachers to become agents of social change. Social Issues and Policy Review, 15(1), 323–355. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12072
  14. Casadellà, M., Massip-Sabater, M., González-Monfort, N., Dias-Gomes, A., & Barroso-Hortas, M.-J. (2022). Imagination, education for the future and democratic culture: Educational policies in the Iberian Peninsula. (Spanish). Communicate, 30(73), 57–67. https://doi.org/10.3916/C73-2022-05
  15. Central Intelligence Agency – CIA (2023). The world factbook: Costa Rica. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/costa-rica
  16. Chacón, N. G. (2023). Symbolic loss of education as a human right. Costa Rica is an exponent of a trend in Latin America. Journal of Educational Policies, 17(2), 1–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.5380/jpe.v17i2.86423
  17. Chan, A. (2022). Cultural diversity in early childhood education. In Oxford Bibliographies in Education. DOI:10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0289
  18. Chango Andrango, D. V. (2023). Decolonization is a challenge for education. Retrieved from https://apni.ru/media/ai_2_2_2023.pdf#page=60
  19. Chela-Flores, G. (2022). La división dialectal del español. In Dialectología Hispánica (pp. 18–26). Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9780429294259-4
  20. Chufama, M., & Sithole, F. (2021). The pivotal role of diagnostic, formative and summative assessment in higher education institutions’ teaching and student learning. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Publications, 4(5), 5–15. http://ijmrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/IJMRAP-V4N4P107Y21.pdf
  21. Coleman, L. (2023). Our language belongs in our learning: A culturally responsive approach to improving literacy rates in West Philadelphia. ENGAGE!, 5(1), 8–20. https://doi.org/10.18060/26531
  22. Crogman, H., & Jackson, M. (2023). Unshackling learning. In Integrated Education and Learning (pp. 255–280). Cham: Springer International Publishing. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-15963-3_15
  23. Devi, K. (2022). Equitable and inclusive education with special reference to National Educational Policy (NEP) 2020. Special Education, 1(43), 7017–7023. https://www.sumc.lt/index.php/se/article/view/970
  24. Dixon, K., & Caldwell, K. L. (2023). Afro-social movements and the struggle for racial equality in Latin America. In F. M. Rossi (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Social Movements (pp. 370-383). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1725
  25. El Guardian (2022). President Rodrigo Chaves says, "No more FARO tests." Retrieved from https://elguardian.cr/presidente-rodrigo-chaves-dice-no-mas-pruebas-faro/
  26. Ferguson, A. S. (2023). Two steps forward and one step back: A case study exploring anti-racist professional development for educators and the barriers that derail progress toward transformational action [Master's thesis, Oregon State University]. https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/41687r914
  27. Freidus, A., & Ewing, E. L. (2022). Good schools, bad schools: Race, school quality, and neoliberal educational policy. Educational Policy, 36(4), 763–768. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048221087208
  28. Galloway, M. K., Callin, P., James, S., Vimegnon, H., & McCall, L. (2019). Culturally responsive, antiracist, or anti-oppressive? How language matters for school change efforts. Equity & Excellence in Education, 52(4), 485–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2019.1691959
  29. García Segura, A. (2019). Education tensions among the Bribri. In Costa Rican Traditional Knowledge According to Local Experiences: Plants, Animals, Medicine and Music, pp. 143–158. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-06146-3_10
  30. Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.
  31. Ginsberg, A., Gasman, M., & Samayoa, A. C. (2023). For the love of teaching: How minority-serving institutions are diversifying and transforming the profession. Teachers College Press.
  32. Guskey, T. R. (2022). Implementing mastery learning. Corwin Press.
  33. Howard, N. R., & Howard, K. E. (2021). Preparing for powerful progress: Ensuring equity when supporting Black students. In J. W. Lalas & H. L. Strikwerda (Eds.), Minding the Marginalized Students Through Inclusion, Justice, and Hope: Daring to Transform Educational Inequities (pp. 77–94). Emerald Group Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620210000016005
  34. Hua, Z., & Gao, X. (2021). Language, culture and curriculum: Lived intercultural experience of international students. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 34(4), 458–465. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1871003
  35. Imchen, A., & Ndem, F. (2020). Addressing the learning crisis: An urgent need to better finance education for the poorest children. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/reports/addressing-learning-crisis-2020
  36. Irons, A., & Elkington, S. (2021). Enhancing learning through formative assessment and feedback. Routledge.
  37. Ismail, S. M., Rahul, D. R., Patra, I., & Rezvani, E. (2022). Formative vs. summative assessment: Impacts on academic motivation, attitude toward learning, test anxiety, and self-regulation skill. Language Testing in Asia, 12(1), 40. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-022-00191-4
  38. Javadi, Y., & Tahmasbi, M. (2020). Application of humanism teaching theory and humanistic approach to education in the course. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 10(1), 40–48. DOI: 10.17507/tpls.1001.06
  39. Joseph-Haynes, M., Rodríguez, C. A. W., & Castillo, Y. R. (2021). Limonese syllable structure: Language innovation in Creoles. In When Creole and Spanish Collide (pp. 100–125). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004460157_006
  40. Karata?, S., Eckstein, K., Noack, P., Rubini, M., & Crocetti, E. (2023). Meeting in school: Cultural diversity approaches of teachers and intergroup contact among ethnic minority and majority adolescents. Child Development, 94(1), 237–253. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13854
  41. Ladson-Billings, G. (1990). Like lightning in a bottle: Attempting to capture the pedagogical excellence of successful teachers of Black students. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 3(4), 335–344. DOI: 10.1080/0951839900030403
  42. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994a). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. Jossey-Bass.
  43. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994b). What we can learn from multicultural education research. Educational Leadership, 51(8) (1994), 22–26. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ508261
  44. Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97(1), 47–68. DOI: 10.1177/016146819509700104
  45. Ladson-Billings, G. (2022). The Dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. John Wiley & Sons.
  46. Leach, N. (2022). Impactful learning environments: A humanistic approach to fostering adolescents’ postindustrial social skills. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 62(3), 377–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167818779948
  47. Leung, G. A., & Loschky, M. (2021). When Creole and Spanish collide. In When Creole and Spanish Collide. Brill.
  48. López, N. A., Gonzáles, M. M., & Laboulais, C. N. (2021). Design of a tourist communication plan that shows the matrilineal cultural heritage of the Bribri people (Talamanca, Costa Rica). Trama Magazine, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.18845/tramarcsh.v10i2.6303
  49. Maire, Q. (2021). The IB diploma and the nation-state: Positional competition and academic distinction. In Credential Market. International Study of City Youth Education, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80169-4_3
  50. Makara, K. A., & Kuusinen, C. M. (2023). Academic help-seeking is a process of seeking formative feedback on learning. In Remembering the Life, Work, and Influence of Stuart A. Karabenick (Vol. 22, pp. 69-90). Emerald Publishing Limited. DOI: 10.1108/S0749-742320230000022006
  51. Maravalle, A., & González Pandiella, A. (2023), Improving the quality and efficiency of education and training in Costa Rica to better support growth and equity, In OECD Economic Surveys: Costa Rica 2023, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/8d6e7009-en
  52. Milner, H. R. (2010). What does teacher education have to do with teaching? Implications for diversity studies. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1-2), 118–131. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109347670
  53. Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2022a). In the face of the "educational blackout", MEP launches a strategy to "turn on the light together." Retrieved from https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/ante-%E2%80%9Capagon-educativo%E2%80%9D-mep-lanza-estrategia-%E2%80%9Cencender-juntos-luz%E2%80%9D
  54. Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2022b). Considerations that Costa Ricans should know about financing public universities. Retrieved from https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/consideraciones-costarricenses-deben-saber-sobre-financiamiento-universidades-publicas
  55. Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2023a). Ruta de la educación proposes a new approach to education based on the citizen that we want the system to form. Retrieved from https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/ruta-educacion-plantea-nuevo-abordaje-educacion-basado-ciudadano-queremos-sistema-forme
  56. Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2023b). More than a thousand students in the country start the 2023 academic year in International Baccalaureate. Retrieved from https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/mas-mil-estudiantes-pais-inician-curso-lectivo-2023-bachillerato-internacional
  57. Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2023c). First lady and minister of education participate in the virtual inauguration of the "Bridges for English" program. Retrieved from https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/primera-dama-ministra-educacion-participan-inauguracion-virtual-programa-%E2%80%9Cpuentes-ingles%E2%80%9D
  58. Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2023d). Comprehensive tests application begins for the recovery of learning in the country. Retrieved from https://mep.go.cr/noticias/inicia-aplicacion-pruebas-comprensivas-recuperacion-aprendizajes-pais
  59. Ministerio de Educación Pública – MEP (2023e). Institutional plans and policies. Retrieved from https://mep.go.cr/transparencia-institucional/planes-institucionales
  60. Mitchell-Walthour, G., Cotito, M. N., & Hernández, T. K. (2023). Race, gender, class and public policies in Latin America and Andean countries. In The Routledge Handbook of Urban Studies in Latin America and the Caribbean (pp. 561–578). Routledge.
  61. Montenegro, S. A. M. (2021). Costa Rica's educational scenario in times of COVID-19 pandemic. Educational Media International, 58(2), 202–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2021.1930483
  62. Müller-Using, S., Vargas Porras, A. (2021). The education system of Costa Rica. In S. Jornitz & M. Parreira do Amaral (Eds.), The Education Systems of the Americas. Global Education Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41651-5_6
  63. Myyry, L., Karaharju-Suvanto, T., Virtala, A. M. K., R Raekallio, M., Salminen, O., Vesalainen, M., & Nevgi, A. (2022). How self-efficacy beliefs are related to assessment practices: A study of experienced university teachers. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 47(1), 155–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.1887812
  64. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD (2021). Costa Rica: Ensuring equal opportunities for students across socio-economic backgrounds. Retrieved from https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/9cc07f93-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/9cc07f93-en#section-d12020e3696
  65. Pacheco, M. Á. Q. (2023). El español en las repúblicas centroamericanas. In Dialectología Hispánica (pp. 371-382). Routledge.
  66. Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (2014). What are we seeking to sustain through culturally sustaining pedagogy? A loving critique forward. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 85–100. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.982l873k2ht16m77
  67. Pasternak, D. L., Harris, S. D., Lewis, C., Wolk, M. A., Wu, X., & Evans, L. M. (2023). Engaging culturally responsive practice: Implications for continued learning and teacher empowerment. Teaching and Teacher Education, 122, 103976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103976
  68. Paulsrud, D. (2022). Inclusion in the light of competing educational ideals: Swedish Policy approaches to differentiation and their implications for inclusive education. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 8(3), 171–183.
  69. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2022.2083053
  70. Pihen González, E., & Arya, D. J. (2022). Understanding ESD: Perceptions and views from Guatemalan, Nicaraguan and Costa Rican educators. Environmental Sciences Proceedings, 15(1), 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/environsciproc2022015045
  71. Razza, C. M. (2018). Social exclusion: The decisions and dynamics that drive racism. Demos. https://www.demos.org/research/social-exclusion-decisions-and-dynamics-drive-racism
  72. Robinson, R. C. (2022). The linguistic challenge for standards. Standards, 2(4), 449–459. https://doi.org/10.3390/standards2040030
  73. Robles, F., & Wiese, N. M. (2023). Business in Latin America: Strategic opportunities and risks. Taylor & Francis.
  74. Rodríguez-Martínez, C., Martín-Alonso, D., & Marrero-Acosta, J. (2022). Políticas educativas y equidad: Introducción al monográfico. (Spanish). Education Policy Analysis Archives, 30, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.30.7537
  75. Rodriguez, A. J., & Navarro-Camacho, M. (2022). Exposing the invisibility of marginalized groups in Costa Rica and promoting pre-service science teachers’ critical positional praxis. In Equity in STEM Education Research: Advocating for Equitable Attention (pp. 125–146). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
  76. Sama, R., Adegbuyi, J. Y., & Ani, M. I. (2021). Teaching to the curriculum or teaching to the test. Journal of Social, Humanity, and Education, 1(2), 103–116. https://doi.org/10.35912/jshe.v1i2.341
  77. Samuels, D., & Vargas, T. R. (2023). Democracy, rural inequality, and education spending. World Development, 162, 106136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106136
  78. Saraví, G. A. (2022). Youth social exclusion in Latin America. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.357
  79. Sarfa, M. M. N., & Danushka, S. A. N (2021). Impact of formative assessment mode on summative assessment of upper-secondary school students. International Research Symposium – 2021. University of Vocational Technology.
  80. Sharpe, M. S. (2021). Lexical transfer from Spanish into Limonese Creole. In When Creole and Spanish Collide (pp. 82–99). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004460157_005
  81. Smagorinsky, P. (2022). The creation of national cultures through education, the inequities they produce, and the challenges for multicultural education. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 24(2), 80–96. https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v24i2.3027
  82. Solano Rivera, S. E., & Ramírez Caro, J. (2019). Nacionalismo asimilacionista en el ideario educativo de Gagini, Dobles Segreda y Dengo. https://rio.upo.es/xmlui/handle/10433/8422
  83. Soler-Gallart, M. (2023). Pedagogy of the oppressed: 50th-anniversary edition. Int Rev Educ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-023-09992-y
  84. Sotomayor, H. T. (2022). Emerging paradigm: New approach to valuing learning processes. Revista Académica Arjé, 5(1), 407–432. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7015828
  85. Tulasi, L., & Rao, C. S. (2021). A review of humanistic approach to student centred instruction. The Review of Contemporary Scientific and Academic Studies, 1(1), 1–5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359135657_A_Review_of_Humanistic_Approach_to_Student_Centred_Instruction
  86. United Nations – UN (2022). Costa Rica, the UN and the transforming education summit: An opportunity to reaffirm education as a core global priority. Retrieved from https://unsdg.un.org/latest/blog/costa-rica-un-and-transforming-education-summit-opportunity-reaffirm-education
  87. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO (2023). UNESCO unveils new report on the future of education. Retrieved from https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-unveils-new-report-futures-education
  88. Universidad de Costa Rica – UCR (2019). Vallecentrism creates inequality in the regions of the country. Retrieved from https://www.ucr.ac.cr/noticias/2019/10/03/el-vallecentrismo-crea-desigualdad-en-las-regiones-del-pais.html
  89. Universidad de Costa Rica – UCR (2022). The UCR is committed to Costa Rican Afro-descendants. Retrieved from https://www.ucr.ac.cr/noticias/2022/08/30/la-ucr-esta-comprometida-con-la-afrodescendencia-costarricense.html#
  90. Villegas, A. M., & Lucas, T. (2002). Preparing culturally responsive teachers: Rethinking the curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(1), 20–32. DOI: 10.1177/0022487102053001003
  91. Wilcox, K. C., & Lawson, H. A. (2022). Advancing educational equity research, policy, and practice. Education Sciences, 12(12), 894. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120894
  92. World Bank (2023). Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) – Costa Rica. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS?locations=CR
  93. World Development Report (2018). Learning to realize education’s promise. The World Bank. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2018#
  94. World Development Report (2021). Data for better lives. The World Bank. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2021
  95. Yang, Q. (2023). Should standardization tests be used to assess student ability? - An evaluation of the effects of standardization tests. Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 8, 319–326. https://doi.org/10.54097/ehss.v8i.4268
  96. Zakharov, A., & Carnoy, M. (2021). Does teaching to the test improve student learning? International Journal of Educational Development, 84, 102422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102422
  97. Zhang, Y., Sun, S., Ji, Y., & Li, Y. (2023). The consensus of global teaching evaluation systems under a sustainable development perspective. Sustainability, 15(1), 818. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010818