Abstract

This article is the product of the investigative activity of the Program Profiles, Dynamics and Challenges of Costa Rican Education, from the Center of Research and Teaching in Education (CIDE) from the National University of Costa Rica (UNA). This paper is a diagnostic work, with different levels of analysis: exploratory, descriptive, and correlational, which utilized a mixed method strategy of concurrent triangulation, incorporating quantitative and qualitative methods. Diverse informants participated; among them, there were former ministries of education, regional directors of the Ministry of Education (MEP), directors from public, private, subsidized, urban and rural secondary education centers, evaluation specialists, union representatives, professors, and students. Semistructured interviews and structured questionnaires were applied. Also, databases from MEP on student´s performance in bachelor tests, sociodemographic and socioeducative data, and social indexes associated with the examined population were used. The analysis of data reflects some transcendental aspects in matters of educative equity, inclusion, and conditions of social development to consider for the interpretation of the results of the national bachelor test in the country.

Keywords: Secondary education; standardized tests; inclusive education; high consequences evaluation