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The role of educational leadership on participation in the National Program of Science and Technology Fairs at Bayside Elementary School

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The role of educational leadership on participation in the National Program of Science and Technology Fairs at Bayside Elementary School

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Content Running head: ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 1
THE ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ON PARTICIPATION IN THE
NATIONAL PROGRAM OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FAIRS
AT BAYSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
by
Carin Beth Fractor
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2016
Copyright 2016 Carin Beth Fractor
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 2
Acknowledgments
“Change is the end result of all true learning” (Buscaglia, n.d., para. 1).
Throughout my time as a student in USC’s doctoral program, I have grown as a profes-
sional and as an individual. My courses, professors, and classmates have all challenged me to
think differently, act differently, and view education through a different lens. This transforma-
tion would have not have been possible without the help of many people along the way:
• My dissertation chairs, Dr. Michael Escalante and Dr. Oryla Wiedoeft. Their constant
support and guidance throughout the entire dissertation journey made this process
enjoyable and enriching.
• My dissertation committee members, Dr. Pedro Garcia and Dr. Charles Hinman, who
provided guidance and support during my doctoral proposal and defense.
• My Saugus Union colleagues who have been instrumental in lending an ear, editing a
paper, and being my cheerleaders along the way.
• My amazing mentors, Dianne, Donna, Isa, Chris, and Sandy, who have all been an
inspiration to me and who model both compassionate and instructional leadership on a
daily basis.
• My family members who have been my biggest support system and who helped me
throughout my entire doctoral journey, making it possible for me to start and finish this
program.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 3
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 2
List of Tables 6
Abstract 7
Chapter One: Introduction 8
Background of the Study 9
Globalization 9
Costa Rican Educational System 9
PRONAFECYT Decree 10
STEM Project-Based Learning (PBL) and 21st-Century Skills 11
Leadership 12
Statement of the Problem 13
Purpose Statement 14
Significance of the Study 15
Limitations 15
Definition of Terms 16
Organization of the Study 17
Chapter Two: Literature Review 19
Globalization 20
Evolution of Globalization 21
Globalization of Education 23
History of Costa Rica 24
Political History 25
Economic History 28
Educational System 34
Ministry of Public Education 35
School Structure 37
Postsecondary Education 38
Current Challenges in Education 39
The PRONAFECYT Initiative 41
PRONAFECYT Background 41
PRONAFECYT and Intel 43
PRONAFECYT and Professional Development 44
STEM–PBL Framework 45
STEM Curriculum 46
Project-Based Learning 47
Integration of STEM and PBL 49
Twenty-First-Century Thinking Skills 50
Leadership and Change 53
Bolman and Deal’s Leadership Framework 54
Kotter’s Change Framework 56
Chapter Summary 59
Chapter Three: Research Methodology 61
Frameworks 62
Research Design 65
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 4
Research Team 65
Sample and Population 66
Instrumentation 69
Interviews 70
Observations 71
Surveys 71
Data Collection 72
Data Analysis 73
Reliability, Validity, and Generalizability 74
Ethical Considerations 75
Chapter Summary 76
Chapter Four: Results 78
Participants 79
Results for Research Question 1 81
Celebration and Recognition Necessary for Implementation of Something New 81
Effective Leaders Create a Shared Vision When Implementing Change 86
Results Summary for Research Question 1 93
Results for Research Question 2 94
Change Embedded in the School’s Culture 96
Effective Teachers Embedded Inquiry Skills Across the Core Curriculum in
Preparation for the PRONAFECYT 106
Results Summary for Research Question 2 113
Results for Research Question 3 113
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills Developed Through
PRONAFECYT Participation 114
Curiosity and Imagination Should Be Encouraged and Valued 119
Results Summary for Research Question 3 124
Results for Research Question 4 125
Twenty-First-Century Skills Emphasized by School Leaders 126
Teachers’ Use of Inquiry-Based Activities in Their Instruction 130
Results Summary for Research Question 4 134
Chapter Summary 134
Chapter Five: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations 136
Summary of Findings 139
Research Question 1 140
Research Question 2 142
Research Question 3 145
Research Question 4 147
Implications for Practice 150
Recommendations for Future Research 151
Conclusion 152
References 154
Appendices
Appendix A: Recruitment Letter 161
Appendix B: List of Research Sites 162
Appendix C: Teacher Interview Protocol: English and Spanish Versions 163
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 5
Appendix D: School Director Interview Protocol: English and Spanish Versions 165
Appendix E: Government Official/Business Leaders Interview Protocol: English
and Spanish Versions 167
Appendix F: Parent Interview Protocol: English and Spanish Versions 169
Appendix G: Student Interview Protocol: English and Spanish Versions 171
Appendix H: Observation Protocol 173
Appendix I: Teacher Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions 179
Appendix J: School Director Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions 183
Appendix K: Government Official Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions 187
Appendix L: Business Partner Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions 191
Appendix M: Parent Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions 195
Appendix N: Student Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions 199
Appendix O: Consent Form 203
Appendix P: Summary of the Research Proposal 205
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 6
List of Tables
Table 1: Summary of Interviewed School Site Participants 67
Table 2: Summary of Interviewed Government and Business Participants 69
Table 3: Summary of School Site Participation 80
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 7
Abstract
Countries around the world are making significant changes to their educational systems as
they work to develop global workers who are prepared with the 21st-century skills needed to be
successful in the global marketplace. Costa Rica is one country that has made a commitment to
improving its international presence in the global economy by way of increasing the educational
experiences of its youth. In order to provide its students with the necessary 21st-century skills to
be equipped to meet the labor demands of the multinational corporations that choose to move
their businesses to Costa Rica, the country mandated that all Costa Rican public school students
participate in the National Program of Science and Technology Fairs (Programa Nacional de
Ferias de Ciencia y Tecnología [PRONAFECYT]). The purpose of this study was to understand
the effects of educational leadership on participation in the PRONAFECYT in Costa Rica’s
primary schools. The study identified the role that educational leaders have had in the develop-
ment and implementation of the PRONAFECYT initiative. The study also explored how schools
have restructured their educational programs by focusing on leadership and instructional prac-
tices that support the development of an innovative, knowledge-based workforce.
The analysis of data gathered through surveys, interviews, and observations revealed that
both system and site leadership have played a vital role in successfully implementing the
PRONAFECYT initiative. As schools work to implement the science fair initiative with fidelity,
Costa Rica’s educational leaders must (a) communicate a clear vision for change that authenti-
cally encompasses the original intent of PRONAFECYT and (b) understand and follow the
various components aligned with the change process to create a sustainable, effective program
that benefits students in their future academic and career pathways.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 8
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
In the next 30 years, countries around the world will be in an all-out war for jobs. In
order to be competitive in this war, strategic decisions made by countries are being driven by jobs
and quality gross domestic product (GDP) growth (Clifton, 2011). As nations work to increase
their GDP, job creation is at the forefront. If countries fail to create jobs, their communities will
slowly fall apart—possibly leading to hunger, extremism, and widening trade imbalances
(Clifton, 2011). In order to create the jobs of tomorrow, international communities are seeking
innovative ways to develop a workforce ready to take on the complex employment demands of
the knowledge-driven and innovation-based economy that awaits them (Spring, 2008). As a
result, nations around the world are changing policies and making internal shifts to develop a
broad base of knowledge-ready workers who are fully prepared to help their country to be
competitive in the global marketplace to win the war for jobs.
Countries must undergo significant changes as they work to develop a broad base group
of workers who possess the requisite 21st-century skills and science–technology–engineering–
math (STEM) content knowledge necessary in an innovation-driven economy (Spring, 2008).
Many of these changes must occur within the public educational system (Friedman, 2007). Costa
Rica is one country that has made some significant changes to its public school system as it seeks
to promote an innovation-driven workforce (Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency
[CINDE], 2013a). One change intended to help students develop the requisite 21st-century skills
and STEM knowledge is required participation in Costa Rica’s National Program of Science and
Technology Fairs (Programa Nacional de Ferias de Ciencia y Tecnología [PRONAFECYT]).
The PRONAFECYT decree was enacted to ensure that all students have access to scientific
inquiry opportunities that will help them develop 21st-century skills and increase their
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 9
understanding of STEM content (Valencia, 2011). While every K–12 school is mandated to
participate in the PRONAFECYT, there is currently a disparity in the levels of success across the
country in both participation and quality of the PRONAFECYT implementation at individual
primary school sites.
Background of the Study
Globalization
The World Health Organization (WHO; 2015) defined globalization as “the opening of
borders to increasingly fast flows of goods, services, finance, people and ideas across interna-
tional borders; and the changes in institutional and policy regimes at the international and
national levels that facilitate or promote such flows” (para. 1). This flow of goods and services
that moves across international borders has impacted countries in many ways, forcing them to
make key political and economic decisions to remain competitive in the global job market. Many
of these decisions revolve around the educational system. Spring (2008) referred to these deci-
sions as the globalization of education. As countries move to be competitive players in the
global marketplace, they are forced to make changes to their school system to provide their
citizens with an education that arms them with the 21st-century skills and STEM content knowl-
edge that are required in a knowledge-driven, innovation-based economy. Thus, it is globaliza-
tion that is the driving force for change.
Costa Rican Educational System
Education has long been a priority within Costa Rica. The country’s educational philoso-
phy is reflected in its dedication to democratic principles and human rights. Since the first con-
stitution was written in 1870, education has remained free and mandatory for Costa Rican
citizens (CINDE, 2013a). Costa Rica was one of the first countries in the world to make
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 10
education both free and obligatory. Following the Civil War in 1949, new political leaders
abolished the army, freeing up more funding to be dedicated to education (Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD], Development Centre, 2012). The constitu-
tion was amended to provide free access to students in preschool all the way through high school
(Biesanz, Biesanz, & Biesanz, 1999). Costa Rica currently boasts a 96% literacy rate, and the
quality of education is ranked 21st in the world (CINDE, 2013a). The government has also made
a commitment to promote English. In fact, over 85% of primary school students in the country
are taking English classes (Biesanz, et al., 1999). The primary school system plays a critical role
in supporting the high literacy rate in Costa Rica. However, while Costa Rica’s educational
system met the needs of its agrarian workforce in the past, changes and modifications must be
made to adapt to the changing needs of the knowledge workforce required by the MNCs and
global economy. Foundational literary skills are no longer enough to prepare students for the
jobs within an economy that relies on an innovative knowledge workforce (Spring, 2008). As
Costa Rica seeks to become a competitor in the global marketplace, it must develop and promote
a broad base of workers who possess 21st-century skills and who are adept with STEM content
knowledge. These changes must take place at the primary and secondary levels.
PRONAFECYT Decree
While the presence of MNCs and the drive to become dominant in the global economy
have forced Costa Rica to reevaluate its current political and economic policies, it has also
created an urgency to reexamine how the educational system is supporting efforts to build Costa
Rica’s human capital. The creation of the PRONAFECYT was intended to support the country’s
effort to do just that. With an understanding that students require multiple opportunities to
engage in scientific inquiry of real-world problems, the Ministry of Public Education (MEP); the
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 11
Ministry of Science, Technology, and Telecommunications (MICITT); and the University of
Costa Rica (UCR) have worked in unison to develop the PRONAFECYT, which then led to a
national decree that mandated all schools to participate in some form of local science fair that
would also lead students to participate in the PRONAFECYT (MICITT, 2015; Valencia, 2011).
The PRONAFECYT was created with the notion that all students in primary and second-
ary schools could develop leadership skills along with a sense of social responsibility through the
acquisition of inquiry, analytical thinking, and research skills (MICITT, 2015). Providing Costa
Rican students with these opportunities would support the national economic goals as well as
provide cultural enrichment through the scientific investigation process (MICITT, 2015).
Friedman (2007) suggested that when students experience the scientific method through inquiry
and research related to everyday problems within their schools, family, and communities, they
internalize many 21st-century skills that prepare them for employment within the global
workforce.
STEM Project-Based Learning (PBL) and 21st-Century Skills
As Costa Rican schools work to implement the PRONAFECYT initiative, they have to
ensure that their students are developing their scientific inquiry skills in conjunction with their
mathematical, engineering, and technological skills through an intensive, well-developed process
(Friedman, 2007). One way to support this endeavor is by providing all students with a special-
ized curriculum that revolves around STEM PBL and 21st-century skills, or soft skills. Capraro,
Capraro, and Morgan (2013) defined STEM PBL as an instructional model where students have
vague tasks that are structured within a well-defined outcome. In a STEM–PBL classroom,
students are presented with a STEM-based, contextually rich task that requires them to solve
multiple problems as a means to demonstrate their mastery of skills and concepts. Capraro et al.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 12
(2013) argued that students who actively participate in a STEM–PBL learning environment are
more likely to succeed in postsecondary institutions where these 21st-century competencies are
essential to success (Capraro & Slough, 2013; Wagner, 2012). The skills learned in a STEM–
PBL environment promote 21st-century competencies and prepare students to be successful at
the postsecondary level and in their future careers.
Leadership
While countries are charged with the task of producing a workforce with a 21st-century
skillset, schools must articulate how they are going to develop and enhance human capital from
within (Fullan, 2010; Wagner, 2008, 2012). These changes at the school site level require effec-
tive educational reform that must be spearheaded by strong, visionary leadership (Bolman &
Deal, 2008; Kotter, 1996). Bolman and Deal’s (2008) leadership framework describes four
distinct leadership frames that Costa Rican educational leaders may utilize as they work to
implement the PRONAFECYT mandate: structural, political, human resources, and symbolic.
As leaders move fluidly within the four frames, they should also be cognizant of the fact that the
changes that must be made have to be embraced.
When incurring a significant shift at the school site, educational leaders in Costa Rica
must take their schools through the change process. Kotter (1996) described this process in eight
essential stages: (a) create a sense of urgency; (b) build a guiding coalition; (c) form strategic
vision and initiatives; (d) enlist a volunteer army; (e) enable action by removing barriers; (f) gen-
erate short-term wins; (g) sustain acceleration; and (h) institute the change.
Currently, there is little evidence to measure the levels of implementation of the
PRONAFECYT initiative within Costa Rica’s primary schools. There is also a lack of evidence
that describes strategies and actions that educational leaders are taking to prepare their students to
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 13
participate in the PRONAFECYT. Finally, evidence of the effects of the PRONAFECYT
initiative on teacher practices is missing from the literature.
Statement of the Problem
Misra (2012) defined globalization as the “integration of economies and societies through
cross country flows of information, ideas, technologies, goods, services, capital, finance and
people” (p. 69). These global changes have led to a highly competitive and rapidly changing
environment for countries throughout the world. World societies are now more interconnected
and interdependent than ever before (Armstrong, 2007; Friedman, 2007). For a nation to succeed
in an ever-increasingly interconnected global economy, changes to the local economy and educa-
tion system must occur (Biesanz et al., 1999; Friedman, 2007). Globalization has necessitated a
change in the skills that students must develop to compete in an increasingly global workforce
(Friedman, 2007; Spring, 2008). As a result, educational systems are no longer competing with
other school systems in the same city, state, or even nation but rather are competing with schools
around the world (Wagner, 2008).
Costa Rica has endured many changes since gaining independence in 1859 (Biesanz et al.,
1999). Since its independence and the abolishment of its military, Costa Rica has placed its
primary focus on education (Palmer & Molina, 2004). During the past 30 years, Costa Rica has
adapted and reformed from a rural, agrarian society to a high-tech hub of innovation in Latin
America (Rodríguez-Clare, 2001). In addition, Costa Rica has initiated actions designed to
attract foreign direct investment (FDI), which has included tax incentives and investments in
infrastructure as well as changes to the educational system (OECD, Development Centre, 2012).
In order to continue attracting FDI, Costa Rica’s economic future is dependent on schools
that produce knowledge and innovation-based workers with skills in STEM in addition to
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 14
essential 21st-century competencies (Rodríguez-Clare, 2001). However, according to Americas
Society/Council of the Americas (2011), 20% to 30% of students in Costa Rica do not finish their
secondary school experience. Moreover, in order to ensure a 100% literacy rate by 2017, princi-
pal and teacher leadership must ensure that all students, including those in rural and poor com-
munities, have equitable educational access to rigorous, project-based educational outcomes in
all schools (CINDE, 2013a).
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of educational leadership on the
participation in the PRONAFECYT in primary schools in Costa Rica. The study identified the
role that school leaders have in the development and implementation of the PRONAFECYT
initiative. Additionally, the study explored how schools have restructured their educational
programs by focusing on leadership and instructional practices that support the development of
an innovative, knowledge-based workforce. This purpose was addressed through the following
four research questions:
1. What is the role that educational leaders play in implementing the PRONAFECYT
initiative?
2. How do teacher practices at successful schools differ from teacher practices at less
successful schools, as measured by participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT?
3. How have site and system leaders prepared their schools to equip students with 21st-
century skills (soft skills) necessary to participate in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT?
4. How has participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT affected instructional
practices?
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 15
Significance of the Study
The PRONAFECYT initiative is a big step in providing all K–12 Costa Rican students
with multiple opportunities to develop their STEM content knowledge in conjunction with 21st-
century skills. At the secondary level, many schools and communities have already embraced the
PRONAFECYT initiative, and many have built curriculum around these concepts (CINDE,
2013a); however, opportunities to promote inquiry and the scientific method are not as prevalent
within the primary schools. This study is important because it attempted to illuminate the varied
levels of PRONAFECYT participation at the primary school level. Understanding where pri-
mary schools are currently with their levels of PRONAFECYT participation should provide the
MEP with information on how best to support each school site. This study also attempted to
identify what strategies and actions educational leaders are utilizing as they implement the
PRONAFECYT initiative at their school sites. Understanding the role that educational leader-
ship has played on the PRONAFECYT implementation can serve as a platform for other leaders
to inquire about and replicate as a recipe for success.
Limitations
There are several factors that were beyond the control of the researchers in this study.
Because the school sites were located in another country approximately 3,500 miles from the
University of Southern California (USC), distance was a clear limitation. Data collection time in
Costa Rica was limited to 10 days, thus providing a narrow time window. Language was another
significant limitation. Data collection was primarily done in Spanish and transcribed in English.
With only half of the research team speaking Spanish, some nuances or innuendos may have been
misunderstood or lost when reviewing and analyzing data that were transcribed or data observed
within a Spanish context. There are also educational terms that vary in meaning between Costa
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 16
Rica and the United States that constituted a limitation to this study. Finally, all of the school
sites were chosen by the MEP for this study. Twelve of the schools were relatively close to the
San José area; however, the six schools in the Mountain Region (a pseudonym), including the
school site primarily focused on by this study, were situated about 2 hours outside of San José,
where the team was located.
Definition of Terms
For the purpose of this study, the following terms are defined:
FDI: This term refers to investment by a company in a country other than the place where
the company is based.
Globalization: This term refers to “the opening of borders to increasingly fast flows of
goods, services, finance, people and ideas across international borders; and the changes in insti-
tutional and policy regimes at the international and national levels that facilitate or promote such
flows” (WHO, 2015, para. 1).
Multinational corporation: A MNC is “a corporation that has its facilities and other assets
in at least one country other than its home country” (Investopedia, 2015, para. 1).
PRONAFECYT: This is the National Program of Science and Technology Fairs intended
to
stimulate creativity and to promote a science and technology culture, starting with the
development of scientific thinking and knowledge, the development of students’ skills
and abilities in science and technology, as a stimulus to the new generations of Costa
Ricans, through the demonstration and discussion of research projects designed by stu-
dents. (Valencia, 2011, p. 3)
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 17
PBL: This is teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by investigat-
ing and responding to a complex question, problem, or challenge over an extended period of time
(Slough & Milam, 2013).
STEM: This term refers to the subject areas of science, technology, engineering, and
math.
Twenty-First-Century Skills: These skills are “a blend of content knowledge, specific
skills, expertise, and literacies” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills [P21], 2009, 21st Century
Student Outcomes section, para. 1).
Organization of the Study
This study consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 provided an overview of the study: an
introduction, background of the problem, the problem statement, purpose statement, research
questions, significance of the study, limitations, and a definition of terms.
Chapter 2 is a review of the literature relevant to understanding the notion of globaliza-
tion, STEM PBL, 21st-century skills, and leadership. The chapter goes into detail about the
political and economic history of Costa Rica and outlines the structure of the educational system.
The literature review also provides information about the PRONAFECYT and its connection to
Costa Rica’s current economic agenda.
Chapter 3 describes the research methodology used in this study and explains the purpose
behind utilizing the qualitative approach. The chapter also discusses the sample and population,
instrumentation, and data collection methods that were used in this study. Further, this chapter
outlines the data analysis approach that was used to analyze the data.
Chapter 4 provides a narrative of the findings of the study, including a detailed descrip-
tion organized by the research questions. Chapter 5 gives a summary of the entire study
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 18
including a conclusion, possible implications for educational practice, and suggestions for future
research opportunities
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 19
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Economies around the world will soon be driven by the creation of jobs and increased
GDP growth (Clifton, 2011). As global job competition intensifies, nations throughout the world
are working to develop an innovative, skilled workforce ready to take on the complex employ-
ment demands of the global economy (Clifton, 2011; Friedman, 2007). Costa Rica is one such
country that has made a national pledge to bring its country to the forefront of the global market-
place by way of increasing the educational experiences of its youth. In order for Costa Rica to
create a global workforce, the country’s public educational system is making significant changes
to teach children the requisite 21st-century skills and content so as to meet the labor demands of
the MNCs that choose to expand their businesses on Costa Rican soil (Friedman, 2007). As
Costa Rica works to promote a broad-based group of knowledge-driven, innovation-based
workers who possess 21st-century skills, it has had to make an abundance of educational changes
from within (CINDE, 2013a, 2013b). One mandated change is the participation in the
PRONAFECYT.
This literature review will explore six key areas to better understand the effects of educa-
tional leadership on participation in the PRONAFECYT in the Costa Rican primary schools. The
first section will define globalization, provide a discussion on the evolution of globalization, and
examine Spring’s (2008) globalization of education framework and how it relates to some of
Costa Rica’s educational policy decisions. The literature review will then describe Costa Rica’s
rich history and its influence on Costa Rican politics and economy. The discussion on historical
context will be followed by an overview of the current Costa Rican educational system and the
current challenges it faces. The next section will provide details about the PRONAFECYT
Executive Decree, including its historical background. This discussion will lead into an
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 20
overview of the STEM–PBL framework of Capraro et al. (2013) by outlining the qualities that
exemplify effective STEM–PBL practice. This section will also clarify the connection between
STEM–PBL instruction and the acquisition of 21st-century thinking skills. The final part of the
literature review will outline Bolman and Deal’s (2008) leadership framework and apply their
four-frame model to current Costa Rican educational leadership practices with respect to the
implementation of the PRONAFECYT initiative. Next will be a discussion on Kotter’s (1996)
change framework as a means to examine how Costa Rica’s educational leaders might affect
change relating to the requisite implementation of the PRONAFECYT Executive Decree.
Globalization
This section will provide the definition for globalization that is used throughout this
research study and briefly discuss how globalization has evolved into the e-commerce world that
is present today (Chanda, 2008). Once this evolution is articulated, the literature review will
discuss Spring’s (2008) globalization of education framework, detailing how globalization has
impacted many countries’ policy decisions regarding education. Spring’s framework will also be
utilized to examine how globalization has specifically affected Costa Rica’s educational policy
decisions, specifically the PRONAFECYT Executive Decree.
Globalization occurs when there is a fast flow of goods and services, finance, and people
within the international community (WHO, 2015). The flows of goods, services, people, and
ideas are impacting countries in many ways, forcing them to make political and economic deci-
sions in order to support globalization. This study explored how globalization has forced many
countries, specifically Costa Rica, to reflect inward as they employ key changes within the edu-
cational system to be competitive in the global marketplace.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 21
Evolution of Globalization
Chanda (2008) suggested that globalization has evolved since its early history in Africa.
Globalization began when people left the comforts of their local villages to venture out to far-off
lands to seek an improved quality of life. As these villagers explored new places and inhabited
new villages, various languages and cultures began to spread across the land. Global exploration
spread even further with the collapsing of the ocean barrier. Ocean voyages allowed agrarian
societies to set new roots farther from home, creating new communities that turned into
kingdoms and principalities. The kingdoms and principalities around the globe quickly became
interconnected as people engaged in the transfer of goods and services known as trade. The
introduction of trade significantly impacted societies with the emergence of the trading class.
According to Chanda (2008), the trading class transformed the notion of commerce,
spreading globalization’s impact far and wide. Traders became the global agents of globaliza-
tion. The appearance of these global agents revolutionized how societies connected with one
another. People could now carry products and services to consumers in distant parts of the
planet. Traders’ ability to reach out across the continents was increased even more with the
introduction of new forms of transportation that not only linked societies across the world to one
another but also inspired new professions such as metalworkers, jewelers, potters, and ship-
wrights. The emergence of the trading class formed new pathways for globalization, introducing
novel innovations and opportunities along the way.
Chanda (2008) contended that the creation of e-commerce connected more people around
the world through globalization pathways. Prior to the Internet, the transportation of goods and
services was limited to camel caravans, steamboats, and container ships, thus limiting the reach
of prospective buyers and business growth. However, e-commerce has allowed a multitude of
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 22
companies to reach an exponential amount of new consumers from around the world. The evo-
lution of the Internet has now made it easy for people around the globe to communicate, interact,
and depend upon one another through trade. As many countries gain instant access to one
another, business sales and production are increasing, allowing international companies serve
customers far and wide.
Friedman (2007) felt that e-commerce is forcing many countries to reexamine their export
models as they work to maintain positive economic relationships with the global marketplace.
As countries change their export model to meet the high-technology demands of the international
community, they must work to develop a knowledge-based workforce that will aid in making
them competitive players in the global field. He likened this global playing field to a flattening
world. With the emergence of e-commerce, developed and developing countries are now able to
find their own niche in this flat world. However, in order for these countries to be competitive,
they must make deliberate efforts to produce a strong base of innovative, knowledge-ready
workers who possess the requisite 21st-century thinking skills that give them an economic edge
in the global economy.
Friedman (2007) maintained that many MNCs are capitalizing on the effects that
e-commerce is having on the political and economic changes occurring within various nations.
MNCs are scoping out new, cost-effective locations around the world where they can grow their
businesses and foster innovation to keep their companies ahead in the digital marketplace. When
MNCs situate themselves within a particular country, a symbiotic relationship is formed in which
both parties greatly benefit—a direct impact of globalization. In an effort to attract various
MNCs, countries such as Costa Rica are making deliberate internal changes that make them stand
out internationally. In addition to offering free trade policies to entice MNCs to invest,
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 23
developing and developed countries are establishing strategies that focus on elevating the educa-
tion of their citizens so that they can compete for the new jobs that await them in the new, flat
world.
Globalization of Education
Spring (2008) referred to the worldwide political and cultural changes that directly affect
local educational practices and policies as the globalization of education. These changes are
impacting national and local school systems and helping countries be competitive in the global
economy.
According to Spring (2008), a variety of components comprise the globalization of edu-
cation. A key aspect of the globalization of education is understanding that many nations adopt
similar educational practices, including curricula, school organizations, and pedagogies, in an
effort to be economically competitive. Spring also explained how current global discussions are
having a direct influence on decisions that are made by local and national educational policymak-
ers, school administrators, college faculties, and teachers, as well as intergovernmental and non-
government organizations (NGOs). The globalization of education encompasses the global
marketing of higher education and education services, such as technology, e-learning, and com-
munications. These services and products are impacting the ways in which school systems are
choosing to educate their youth. These components all revolve around the variety of reasons why
developed and developing countries are making deliberate efforts to reexamine and restructure
their school systems to produce a strong, knowledge-ready workforce prepared to meet the new
labor demands of the international community, including the MNCs.
Spring (2008) argued that globalization is affecting the political and economic decisions
that many international communities are making to be economically competitive in the global
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 24
market. He suggested that the changes and discussions that are happening internationally regard-
ing trade and economic competitiveness are affecting local educational policies and programs,
known as the globalization of education. The policies and programs that are being implemented
are intended to produce an innovative, knowledge-driven society, ready to face the high-tech
demands of the global economy, including the MNCs.
The globalization of education framework provides this study with a lens to better under-
stand the impetus behind specific policies and programs, such as Costa Rica’s PRONAFECYT
decree. The literature suggests that many countries such as Costa Rica are strategically creating
policies that will bring about a positive change to their national economy. In Costa Rica, the
PRONAFECYT initiative was created with the purpose of providing students with enough skills
and opportunities to support the nation’s efforts to produce a skilled workforce ready to take on
the labor demands of the local MNCs and the international marketplace.
History of Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a small Central American country nestled between Nicaragua and Panama.
It was dubbed the “rich coast” by Christopher Columbus, one of the first explorers to set foot on
Costa Rican soil, and it has a rich history to match its name (Palmer & Molina, 2004). To better
understand the current educational system in Costa Rica, it is important to understand the coun-
try’s historical narrative to see how various political decisions and events in the past have led to
specific political and economic decisions made in recent years. Costa Rica’s political history
provides the study with an understanding of how political events have influenced current educa-
tional decisions. The economic history of Costa Rica sheds light on the importance of coffee and
bananas within the older agricultural export model and the shifts made to the new, high-
technology export model.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 25
Political History
Costa Rica’s early colonization has informed many of the decisions that have led to the
country’s current shifts in education (Booth, 2008). Regarding the country’s early political
history, Biesanz et al. (1999) found that Spanish colonists began exploring the country in the
early 1500s, hoping to seek land and fortune. During their exploration, they attempted to destroy
many of the indigenous communities within the country. However, instead of allowing them-
selves to be exploited, many communities resisted being colonized by the Spanish explorers.
The explorers were forced to live alongside the indigenous people as contemporaries instead of
slaves. The resistance from the native communities forced many of the Spanish colonists to
become independent farmers in order to maintain a living in their new home. As these farming
communities grew, so did the value of freedom and family—a trait that remains inherent in Costa
Ricans today.
Palmer and Molina (2004) discussed that after almost 300 years following the initial
Spanish settlement in Costa Rica, Costa Rica declared independence from Spain in 1821. Costa
Rica’s independence from Spain cleared the pathway for the country’s first official leaders to
have a direct impact on the development of the country. The first elected head of state, Juan
Mora Fernandez, was a powerful coffee baron who helped initiate the production of coffee as a
future major Costa Rican export. His tenure lasted two terms and paved the way for years of
political transformation. Once Costa Rica became fully independent, the Costa Rican congress
elected the first president, José Maria Castro Madriz. In his short tenure, Costa Rica became a
democratic republic and adopted a constitution granting basic rights to its citizens. During this
time, coffee barons gained political clout and became very powerful, increasing their hold on the
coffee market within Costa Rica. Their influence became so great that they seized control of the
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 26
presidency, ousting Madriz and replacing him with one of their own, Juan Rafael Mora, who took
political control for the next 10 years.
Juan Rafael Mora’s influence on Costa Rica was significant. He was a coffee baron who
used his power to expand coffee agriculture and privatize land. His presidential coffee strong-
hold affected many of the citizens’ ability to make a decent living from their own coffee farms.
While Costa Ricans were allowed to own their coffee farms and produce their own beans, they
were forced to use one of the politically controlled companies to market and sell their coffee, thus
significantly reducing the amount of profit they could make (Palmer & Molina, 2004). Mora was
also notorious for leading the fight against William Walker, an American who attempted to take
control over the entire Central American region, including Costa Rica’s northern neighbor,
Nicaragua (Palmer & Molina, 2004).
Palmer and Molina (2004) suggested that the effects of the fight against Walker impacted
Costa Rica politically. In 1859, Juan Mora was ousted in a political coup by José Maria Mon-
tealegre, and the Montealegre family seized control of the Costa Rican presidency for the next 2
decades. In 1870, General Tomas Guardia ended the Montealegre legacy when he became
president. During his tenure, General Guardia enacted the Constitution of 1871, which remained
in effect until the Civil War in 1948. In addition to enacting the constitution, he is credited for
some of the country’s most progressive reforms in public education, military policy, and taxation.
While Guardia’s legacy was instrumental in providing additional rights to Costa Rican citizens, it
was the events during the 1940s that Palmer and Molina (2004) noted as pivotal moments in
Costa Rican history. During the 60-year period prior to the 1940s, the political climate remained
relatively calm, with no political coups or citizen uprisings. However, in 1948 a civil war broke
out and changed the course for Costa Rica. The war was sparked when the presidential
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 27
incumbent, Dr. Rafael Angel Calderon, refused to relinquish power after losing the presidential
election to José Maria (Don Pepe) Figueres Ferrer. Following a 44-day bloody battle, democracy
was restored and Ferrer officially became president. Under his leadership, a new constitution
was created that reinstated free elections and abolished the national army for the purpose of
moving more money toward education. The abolishment of the army demonstrated the priority
placed on providing quality education and support for Costa Rican citizens. Under Ferrer’s
leadership, vast reforms in policy and civil rights were also made, such as granting women’s
suffrage, nationalizing banks, and establishing presidential term limits.
Booth’s (2008) work suggests that since the infamous Civil War of 1948, Costa Rica has
experienced political stability. Fair and free elections are held, and the heart of the Costa Rican
people move the country forward. In the 1980s, the country faced a steep economic decline as a
result of the recession in the United States and the political violence that took place in other
Central American countries. In the face of economic hardship, the democratically elected leaders
of Costa Rica began implementing strict programs and instilling a peace movement to bring
about political stability within the entire region as a means to safeguard the positive changes that
Costa Rica had recently made.
Once Costa Rica remained politically stable and peaceful, Rodríguez-Clare (2001) argued
that the country’s efforts were able to focus on improving the economy. In order to bring Costa
Rica out of its economic gloom, elected officials were forced to creatively seek alternatives to
remedy the economic hardships faced by Costa Rica in the 1980s and 1990s. With coffee prices
declining and the withdrawal of the United Fruit Company, both key factors affecting Costa
Rican exports to be discussed in the next section, specific steps had to be taken to increase the
employment rate and boost the economy. Rodríguez-Clare discussed how Costa Rican leaders
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 28
initiated a strategic plan that would not only pull Costa Rica out of its economic decline but also
push the country into the global marketplace. At the beginning of 1983, political leaders felt that
if the country could convince foreign companies to move their offices to Costa Rican soil
through FDI, the result would greatly benefit the companies’ investment portfolios as well as the
quality of life for Costa Rican citizens—thus a win–win situation (Rodríguez-Clare, 2001; Villa-
lobos & Monge-González, 2011). Despite leadership changes every 4 years, the Costa Rican
government, including the current president, Luis Guillermo Solis, has given and continues to
provide political and financial support to help Costa Rica become a key player in the global
market (CINDE, 2013b). The current political climate in Costa Rica has supported the globaliza-
tion efforts that the country is making to improve the nation’s economy.
Costa Rica’s historical timeline demonstrates the country’s ability to adapt and change
based on the needs of the country. Throughout the decades of leadership changes and political
unrest, Costa Rica’s citizens have prevailed with improved rights and a sense of nationalism. As
present-day Costa Rica attempts to be a competitive force in the international economy, it must
once again adapt and change in order to advance the economic state of the country as a whole and
of the citizens who live there.
Economic History
Costa Rica has a rich economic history that is premised on the development of the coun-
try’s agriculturally based export model and the newer high-technology export model. While
coffee and banana exports helped to establish Costa Rica on the world map, exporting these two
agricultural products was not a sustainable model in the wake of a new digital age (Rodríguez-
Clare, 2011).
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 29
Agricultural export model. Palmer and Molina (2004) contended that Costa Rica is
often seen as an agricultural-based society with a long history of exporting coffee and bananas.
The coffee industry made itself known within Costa Rican culture in the 1840s. Coffee was
noted for transforming Costa Rican society from poor and miserable to rich and prosperous in a
relatively short time. From 1850 to 1890, the coffee sales accounted for roughly 90% of the
country’s export earnings. Coffee was initially cultivated, harvested, and processed around San
José, the country’s capital, but rapidly extended to other areas of the Central Valley and eventu-
ally to the entire country. As coffee plantations grew, so did the pockets of farmers known as
cafetaleros, or coffee barons. These were the farmers who benefitted the most from the coffee
industry by controlling credit, purchase prices, and processing facilities. As noted earlier in the
political history section, many of the coffee barons increased their political clout by taking over
the presidency—sometimes through political coups—and increasing their own economic prow-
ess at the expense of others. Despite the stronghold that many coffee barons had over the coffee
industry, there were still many small, medium-sized coffee growers who made a successful
transition to the commercialized farming of coffee (Palmer & Molina, 2004).
According to Palmer and Molina (2004), the coffee industry affected Costa Rica in many
ways. In addition to increasing regulations over businesses and helping to create a national
identity, the effects of the coffee industry spotlighted the lack of infrastructure necessary for
coffee sales and exports. Farmers were having trouble transporting coffee to the coasts for
exports, thus limiting their potential for economic growth. In response to this need, the roads to
the Port of Puntarenas, a major hub necessary for the transportation of Costa Rican goods, were
improved. To further increase the trade of exports, President General Tomas Guardia hired
American Minor Cooper Keith to build a rail system that would connect the central valleys to the
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 30
Caribbean coast, ultimately ending in the Port of Limon. While the railway failed to increase the
number of coffee exports as intended, it did allow for the boom of the banana industry (Palmer &
Molina, 2004). While the development of the banana industry was an unintentional byproduct of
the coffee industry, it ended up becoming a huge player in Costa Rica’s export model and helped
put Costa Rica on the world map.
With the development of the banana industry, Costa Rica moved from being a monocrop
exporter to a becoming duocrop exporter (Palmer & Molina, 2004). The failure of the railroad to
promote the coffee trade industry made way for the emergence of the banana as a major Costa
Rican export. Minor Cooper Keith, who built the railroad, planted bananas alongside the railway
construction as a way to feed those working on the railroad (Palmer & Molina, 2004). Eventu-
ally, Keith’s idea led him to see the potential for bananas to become a major agricultural export
to the United States. Knowing that the fertile Costa Rican coastline was an excellent spot to
grow bananas, he immediately planted more bananas along the Caribbean lowlands for export to
the United States. With a direct trade route between the Port of Limon and the United States,
Keith’s small business grew into what is now known as the United Fruit Company (UFC), one of
the first MNCs on Costa Rican soil. For decades, the UFC maintained a monopoly in Costa Rica
and other parts of Central America (Booth, 2008). The UFC grew fast and increased its revenue
rapidly with the transportation of the bananas by train to Limon and then by ship to the United
States in large quantities. Although the UFC brought a great deal of money into Costa Rica and
employed many of its citizens, Palmer and Molina (2004) noted that those who worked in the
banana republic did not fare well.
Rodríguez-Clare (2001) acknowledged that Costa Rica’s agricultural model was sustain-
able for a long period of time and helped the country to make a name for itself in the international
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 31
community. However, he contended that the overreliance on coffee and banana exports signifi-
cantly impacted Costa Rica’s economic state when coffee and other commodity prices fell,
thereby pushing the country into an economic crisis. Based on the decline in coffee prices and its
impact on the national economy, it was evident that Costa Rica’s dependence on traditional
export products would not help the country to be a global competitor and Costa Rica was forced
to adapt and change its economic model.
High-technology export model. Rodríguez-Clare (2001) explored how Costa Rican
officials have reacted since the economic decline during the 1980s. He explained how govern-
ment officials looked toward FDI as the only option to bring Costa Rica out of its economic
slump. FDI is when a company moves its business to a different country while still maintaining
full fiscal control. According to Rodríguez-Clare (2001), the presence of FDI in a host country
can increase employment opportunities and improve national infrastructure. As the amount of
FDI increases, so does the ability of people within the country to have a job.
To attract FDI, Costa Rican officials made drastic legal changes. Trade liberalization and
fiscal incentives were created as ways to encourage foreign companies to directly invest in Costa
Rica (Rodríguez-Clare, 2001). Some incentives included creating an Export Processing Zone
that allowed companies to import all their inputs and equipment tax free as well as to have the
ability to avoid paying income tax for 8 years (Rodríguez-Clare, 2001). Costa Rica also began
offering companies a generous subsidy equivalent to 10% of the value of their exports with more
than 90% of the exports running under preferential rules of commercial agreements (CINDE,
2013b; Rodríguez-Clare, 2001). Many of these economic initiatives were supported by the
efforts of CINDE.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 32
CINDE. In 1983, CINDE was created to support Costa Rican’s economic revival
(CINDE, 2013b). Although the agency is nonpolitical and nongovernmental, it is strongly
supported by the Costa Rican government with the primary purpose of attracting FDI to Costa
Rica as a strategy to improve the nation’s economy. The agency is mainly financed by the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) in large part because the U.S. government
has economic and political interests in maintaining peace and stability within Latin America
(Rodríguez-Clare, 2001).
Since its inception, CINDE’s (2013a, 2013b) services have had a huge impact on the
Costa Rican economy (CINDE, 2013). The increased numbers of international companies
directly investing in Costa Rica have contributed significantly to the development of the country.
For example, FDI has encouraged the production of diversified exports and has created more and
better jobs (OECD, Development Centre, 2012). In alignment with the plan to shift the export
model, Costa Rica moved away from exporting a few agricultural products to Central American
neighbors to now exporting over 4,000 diverse products to countries around the world (CINDE,
2013b). The increase in export production has resulted in a dramatic increase in employment
(OECD, Development Centre, 2012). As Clifton (2011) suggested, “jobs and GDP live together,
are the cause and effect of one another, and survive together and create one another (p. 19). As
Costa Rica’s employment rate increases, so does its GDP. In fact, Costa Rica’s GDP increased
from $507 million in 1960 to over $49 billion in 2013 (Trading Economics, 2015). This drastic
increase in GDP demonstrates the significant impact that FDI has had on Costa Rica’s economic
success, including employment.
According to the work of Bamber, Gereffi, Frederick, and Fernandez-Stark (2013), there
are several other organizations that have joined forces in efforts to support the growth of the
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 33
Costa Rican economy by increasing the number of high-technology and knowledge sectors
coming into the country. In 2010, the Presidential Council for Competitiveness and Innovation
was established for the purpose of coordinating and facilitating the union of Ministerio de
Comercio Exterior (COMEX), CINDE, and Promotora del Comercio Exterior de Costa Rica
(PROCOMER). The union of these three organizations was intended to provide Costa Rica with
guidance on how to monitor the country’s progress toward meeting the workforce demands of the
MNCs. COMEX and PROCOMER support CINDE’s efforts to strategically utilize the resources
of the current MNCs as well as find ways to attract additional FDI, including high- technology
FDI.
High-technology FDI. CINDE (2013b) has suggested that high-technology FDI is
responsible for most of the important changes in Costa Rica’s exporting industry. In fact, Costa
Rica is the first high-technology exporter in Latin America and ranks among the top five in the
world. In the last 30 years, the number of high-technology companies arriving to Costa Rica has
increased steadily. Companies that specialize in medical devices, advanced manufacturing, and
business services have not only brought in their factories and research and development pro-
grams, but also are responsible for a majority of the exports now leaving Costa Rica (CINDE,
2013b; OECD, Development Centre, 2012). In 2012, the top exported products were electronics
components for microprocessors and precision medical equipment (CINDE, 2013b).
Not only are Costa Rica’s export products diverse, but the locations where they are going
are diverse as well, with many products traveling to the United States, the European Union, Asia,
and Central America. With the influx of MNCs and export products, the number of job oppor-
tunities for Costa Rican citizens has increased dramatically. Over 66, 220 people are employed
in the three main high-technology sectors and over 30,000 in the service sector (CINDE, 2013b).
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 34
The dramatic increase in job opportunities has affected the Costa Rican educational
system. While Costa Rica has always boasted a high quality of education for its citizens, the
skills required of high school and college graduates in the new high-technology era far exceed the
academic expectations in the past. The public school system now needs to adapt to meet the
demands of the service and high-technology sectors within the many MNCs that are moving to
Costa Rica (OECD, Development Centre, 2012). As MNCs come to Costa Rica, they expect a
supply of knowledge workers ready to fill specific employment positions. To support this need,
Costa Rica is working to revamp its public educational system in order to produce innovative
knowledge workers with 21st-century skills who can help the MNCs to build and expand their
businesses globally (CINDE, 2013b; OECD, Development Centre, 2012).
Costa Rican officials have begun to show a commitment to support the county’s effort to
prepare innovative, scientifically minded citizens who can fill the workforce demands of the
various companies relocating or expanding to Costa Rica. For example, the government recently
increased the percentage of GDP slotted for education from 6% to 8% (CINDE, 2013a). As of
2013, the country is funding tertiary education at 37% GDP per capita (OECD, Development
Centre, 2012). While these changes are a good start, the next few sections in this literature
review will discuss specific educational reforms that could support the country’s efforts to
increase the skillset of its human capital.
Educational System
This literature review now explores Costa Rica’s current educational system as a means
of understanding the key players and factors that have affected the implementation of the
PRONAFECYT initiative. Understanding the history of Costa Rica’s educational priorities and
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 35
the current organization and structure of the school system provides insight into the decisions
that educational leaders are making as they implement the PRONAFECYT initiative.
Education has always been an important piece in the historical narrative of Costa Rica.
The country’s educational philosophy is clearly reflected in its dedication to democratic princi-
ples and human rights. Since the first constitution was written in 1870, education has been free
and mandatory for Costa Rican citizens (CINDE, 2013a). In fact, Costa Rica was one of the first
countries in the world to make education both free and obligatory. In 1949, following the Civil
War, the new political regime abolished the army, thereby allowing more funds to be dedicated to
education (OECD, Development Centre, 2012). In this same year, the constitution was amended
to provide free access to education for students in preschool all the way through 11th grade
(Biesanz et al., 1999). Currently, Costa Rica boasts a 96% literacy rate, and the quality of
education is ranked 21st in the world (CINDE, 2013b). However, while Costa Rica’s educational
system met the needs of its agrarian workforce in the past, changes and modifications must be
made to adapt to the changing needs of the knowledge workforce required by the MNCs and
global marketplace.
Ministry of Public Education
Costa Rica’s schools are overseen by the MEP. The MEP was created to ensure that all
Costa Rican youth had access to the educational objectives established in Article 2 of the Funda-
mental Law of Education, which states the following:
a) The formation of civic lovers of their Homeland, aware of their rights and of their
fundamental freedoms, with deep sense of responsibility and respect to the human dig-
nity; b) to contribute to the complete development of the human personality; c) to form
citizens for a democracy in which reconcile the individual’s interests with those of the
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 36
community; d) to stimulate the development of the solidarity and the human understand-
ing, and to conserve and to enlarge the cultural inheritance, imparting knowledge on the
man’s history, the masterpieces of the literature and the fundamental philosophical
concepts. (MEP, n.d., p. 3)
The MEP is the governing body established to ensure that the country’s educational goals
set forth in Article 2 are met. The MEP is responsible for maintaining that all students in Costa
Rica have access to a quality education that is focused on preparing all of them to be productive
members of society (MEP, 2007). While the MEP is a government agency, its invested interest is
in the students it serves. The intent is to ensure that all schools across the country provide their
students with educational experiences and skills that allow them to support Costa Rica on its
journey to becoming a competitive global agent.
According to Biesanz et al. (1999), the MEP is a highly structured organization with
many different levels. The MEP is led by the Minister of Education, who is appointed by the
President. The Minister of Public Education oversees the Superior Council of Education, the
organization that makes the policy and curriculum decisions in the country. The Operative
Direction level includes curriculum development, programs on equity development, and techno-
logical resources; this level is overseen by the Vice Ministers. The next level is the Operative
Departments, the largest of all the subdivisions, which includes everything from legal affairs,
curriculum, to health and welfare, archives, and public services. Following this level, there is the
Advisory Board and the Superior Delegation, both of which are directly overseen by the Minister
of Public Education. The organization of the MEP ends with the Delegation level, which
supervises the equity and efficiency of technical schools, scholarships, quality assurance, and an
inclusive educational system. This level is directly overseen by the Minister of Education.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 37
In 1998, the MEP decentralized its power to nine regions, with all major decisions
remaining at the central level. Each community has a board of directors for primary schools and
an administrative board for the secondary schools. Funds provided by the Ministry of Treasury
are allocated to schools based on enrollment (Biesanz et al., 1999). These ministries work
together to provide resources for a free education for students in both primary and secondary
education.
School Structure
The Costa Rican school system is structured into two entities: primary schools and
secondary schools. The first 12 years of a student’s education is divided into four cycles. Cycle I
includes Grades 1–4; Cycle II, Grades 5–6; and Cycle III, Grades 7–9. Cycles I–III are manda-
tory for all citizens. Cycle IV is voluntary and includes Grades 10–12. Cycles I–II provide
students with instruction in Spanish, math, social studies, and science and are considered part of
primary school. Cycles III-IV are considered part of secondary education. In Cycle III, students
all take Spanish, English, French, math, social studies, religion, civics, science, and electives for
24 hours per week (Biesanz et al., 1999). In Cycle III, students choose between a technical or
academic school. Students who choose to attend academic schools complete 5 years of study
(Grades 7–11) and usually graduate at age 17. Students who attend the technical schools have 6
years of study (Grades 7–12) and usually graduate at age 18 with a technical degree (CINDE,
2013a). Once students have completed Cycles III and IV, they are required to pass a test on all
subjects that have been studied during their high school years. With the successful passage of
this exam, they earn a Bachilerato, which is required for admission to universities (Biesanz et al,
1999).
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 38
Biesanz et al. (1999) suggested that the technical schools in Costa Rica are becoming a
top choice among students as they realize the potential employment opportunities that await them
resulting from an increase in FDI. There are 113 technical high schools located throughout the
country. In 2012, 78,719 students were enrolled in 52 different specialties in three main areas of
expertise (services, industrial, and agriculture). Among others, these specialties include account-
ing, architectural drawing, banking and finance, computer programming, electromechanics,
electronics, graphic design, industrial electronics, industrial maintenance, network informatics,
precision mechanics, and software development informatics (CINDE, 2013a). Competition for
spots within these technical institutions is very high, thus limiting the number of qualified people
ready to fill the necessary technical jobs within the high-tech sectors (Bamber et al., 2013).
Postsecondary Education
While this study focused only on primary schools in Costa Rica, it is important to under-
stand what changes are being made at the postsecondary school level because they will ultimately
affect the changes within the primary schools. Although literacy rates are very high in Costa
Rica, the academic demands that are expected of a knowledge workforce are much greater than
those necessary to produce agricultural workers, as were needed in the past. Costa Rica must
now focus on developing pathways that will increase the number of students receiving a
postsecondary education. Currently, only 70% to 80% of students complete secondary schools,
and only 17% of the population has a college degree compared to other aspirational development
countries such as Singapore at 26% and Ireland at 35% (OECD, Development Centre, 2012).
Despite having a 96% literacy rate, Costa Rican students are not exiting the public educational
system with 21st-century skills or soft skills that call for them to create, communicate, collabo-
rate, or think critically. Furthermore, they are not honing and improving upon these skills in a
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 39
postsecondary environment, consequently limiting their ability to successfully engage in the
higher technology industrialized activities required by the MNCs (OECD, Development Centre,
2012). In an effort to help satisfy the workforce demands required by the multitude of MNCs
arriving in Costa Rica, changes are being made at the postsecondary level.
The development of Costa Rica’s future workforce relies heavily on the ability of the
postgraduate schools to produce a knowledge-ready workforce. There are three key organiza-
tions that support this endeavor: Consejo Nacional de Rectores (CONARE), Consejo Nacional de
Enseñanza Superior Universitaria Privada (CONESUP), and Sistema Nacional de Acreditación
de la Educación Superior (SINAES). CONARE, the National Deans Council, governs the public
universities. CONARE is responsible for developing a specified plan to improve education at the
public university level, focusing on the global and local demands for science- and technology-
minded workers (Bamber et al., 2013). CONESUP, the National Council of Higher Education,
has authority to create universities and degree programs but does not accredit the quality of such
universities or programs. SINAES is Costa Rica’s official accreditation board, which was estab-
lished in 1999 and legally constituted in 2002. SINAES requires that programs must last a mini-
mum of 4 years and have a minimum number of graduates prior to accreditation, which is
optional and lasts only 4 years (Bamber et al., 2013). SINAES became very important in 2010
when the Costa Rican legislature created a reliable source of funding for the organization and
required that any person hired by the government must come from a SINAES-accredited institu-
tion. In 2012, 68 programs had been accredited by SINAES (Bamber et al., 2013).
Current Challenges in Education
Despite the recent changes that have been made to improve the educational outcomes of
Costa Rican students, there are still challenges inherent in the current educational system. There
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 40
is a disparity of resources in the rural and urban schools (Soubbotina & Sheram, 2000). Rural
schools within the border towns and in the mountains receive significantly less school supplies,
technology, and quality teachers than the schools in San José or Guanacaste. Despite primary
and secondary education being free and accessible, children in some areas of the country are
receiving a very different educational experience than those in another part of the same country
(Biesanz et al, 2009; Soubbotina & Sheram, 2000). Depending on where they live, many elite
and wealthy families are choosing to send their children to private schools to avoid the ill
equipped schools that their children would otherwise attend.
Biesanz et al. (1999) contended that Costa Rica’s public school system lacks a cohesive,
articulated trajectory of curricular standards. The curriculum with which students interact each
year tends to repeat itself in the primary grades, thus preventing students from applying mastered
skills to new learning. Additionally, the national exam at the end of high school, the bachil-
leratto, focuses on assessing students’ factual knowledge rather than assessing the depth of their
conceptual knowledge and reasoning skills—both necessary to become a knowledge-ready
worker.
As Costa Rica develops a broad base of knowledge workers with the appropriate skillset
required of the high-tech sectors, it will become even more enticing for FDI and push the country
ahead in the global marketplace. While the literature suggests that there are currently many
organizations that are supporting significant changes at the postsecondary level to help Costa
Rica to increase the skills of the human capital, there is very limited research that addresses
changes at the primary school level. While ensuring that postsecondary schools are equipped to
prepare their students for a knowledge-driven economy, it seems important to provide students in
the primary schools with many opportunities to develop their 21st-century skillset.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 41
The PRONAFECYT Initiative
MNCs have significantly impacted the growth and development of Costa Rica’s econ-
omy since the 1980s (CINDE, 2013b; OECD, Development Centre, 2012; Rodríguez-Clare,
2001). While the presence of MNCs has forced Costa Rica to reevaluate its current political and
economic policies, it has also created an urgency to reexamine the educational experiences of its
citizens, especially acting as the impetus for the creation of the PRONAFECYT. This section
will provide an overview of the PRONAFECYT Executive Decree and its intent to address the
need for students to develop their 21st-century skills at both the primary and secondary levels.
This overview will be followed by a brief discussion on the relationship between Costa Rica’s
PRONAFECYT and the Intel Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). The section will conclude
with a description of current professional development opportunities available to teachers to
support the PRONAFECYT initiative.
PRONAFECYT Background
Many of Costa Rica’s governmental agencies have taken significant steps to support the
country’s strategic plan to boost the economy and enhance the skills of the knowledge workforce.
With an understanding that students need opportunities to engage in collaborative inquiry of real-
world problems, the MEP, the MICITT, and the UCR worked in unison to develop the
PRONAFECYT, which then resulted in national decree mandating all schools participate in
some form of local science fair that would eventually lead students to participate in the
PRONAFECYT (MICITT, 2015; Valencia, 2011).
The PRONAFECYT mission states that all students in each grade level can develop
leadership skills along with a sense of social responsibility through the acquisition of inquiry,
analytical thinking, and research skills (MICITT, 2015). Providing Costa Rican students with
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 42
these opportunities would support the national economic goals as well as provide cultural
enrichment through the scientific investigation process (MICITT, 2015). When students experi-
ence the scientific method through inquiry and research related to everyday problems within their
schools, family, and communities, they internalize many 21st-century skills that prepare them for
employment in the global workforce (Friedman, 2007).
The PRONAFECYT mission is based on the National Decree #31900 MEP-MICITT,
which requires all primary and secondary schools to participate in the PRONAFECYT and
includes the PRONAFECYT on the national school calendar each year (Valencia, 2011). Execu-
tive Decree #31900 was created to foster a culture of inquiry through science and technology. It
aims to increase students’ awareness of scientific knowledge and works to develop their scien-
tific thinking and reasoning skills. Based on the growth of participants, teacher motivation, and
student success stories, the MEP and MICITT felt that the PRONAFECYT mandate would also
encourage schools all over the country to provide their students with enriching scientific inquiry
experiences to stimulate their own creativity and innovative ideas—skills that are necessary in a
global workforce (Friedman, 2007; MICITT, 2015; Valencia, 2011; Wagner, 2012).
The inception of the PRONAFECYT actually began in the 1970s with a science fair
specifically designed for college students and organized by UCR (Chacon, 2011). In the 1980s,
UCR organized a more concrete National Science Fair (NSF) and invited high school participants
to join in. Roughly 40 schools participated, most of them privatized high schools from urban
areas (Valencia, 2011). In the 1990s the National Science Fair implementation found a wider
audience with the enactment of Costa Rica Law 7169, which called for the promotion of scien-
tific and technological development in Costa Rica (Valencia, 2011). In 1998, the NSF began
including primary school participants from around the country. At this time, about 300 Costa
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 43
Rican schools engaged in scientific projects at the NSF. In 1999, the NSF held three regional
science fair competitions with approximately 500 schools participating, sending some students to
observe at the Intel ISEF. By 2000, Costa Rica had held 20 regional science fairs that fed into the
ISEF-affiliated PRONAFECYT, even sending one national team to the ISEF in 2002. In an
effort to continue supporting the development of the PRONAFECYT and the positive implica-
tions that it was having on the students involved, the MICITT and MEP promoted the
PRONAFECYT mandate, National Decree #31900 MEP-MICITT. In 2004, Costa Rica sent a
team of students to the ISEF, where they won third place with a project on botany (Valencia,
2011). According to Valencia (2011), the students who participated in the PRONAFECYT and
ISEF had developed a 21st-century skillset that prepared them to work in a variety of the MNCs
both in Costa Rica and around the world.
PRONAFECYT and Intel
Costa Rica’s public school system is revamping its current instructional practices,
resources, and curriculum produce a generation of skilled workers who possess the requisite
knowledge and experiences to be successful global agents. These changes are largely supported
by some of the key MNCs that have chosen Costa Rica as the perfect place for them to invest.
Intel was one of the largest supporters since its initial Costa Rican presence in 1997. Through the
Intel Innovation and Education Program, Intel invested $1 million annually to promote 21st-
century skills, science, math, and engineering within the elementary and secondary schools
(Society for Science, 2014). The company also invested in the Intel Teach Program, which
provided teachers with training and brought technology into the classrooms. Intel continues to
host the Intel ISEF and sponsors winners from the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT. In an effort to
have more students prepared to participate in the ISEF, Intel created the Students as Scientists
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 44
(SAS) program that aimed to promote scientific research in the schools (Society for Science,
2014). The SAS program supported the country’s efforts to facilitate and encourage student
engagement with STEM concepts and inquiry opportunities for participation in the
PRONAFECYT. While Intel has recently moved some of its production outside of Costa Rica, it
has played an integral role in the development of the PRONAFECYT initiative.
PRONAFECYT and Professional Development
Since Costa Rica enacted the National Decree mandating the implementation of
PRONAFECYT for all public schools in 2004, professional development opportunities have
been provided to teachers and school site leaders to aid them in the implementation process. The
SAS program, supported by Intel, was one such support aimed at providing teachers with the
requisite information they needed to implement the PRONAFECYT initiative (Valencia, 2011;
Society for Science, 2014). Depending on the school’s circumstances, either teachers gained
experience in designing a teaching unit based on the investigation process or they worked on
developing a proposal for the implementation of the PRONAFECYT mandate. The SAS pro-
gram gave teachers opportunities and strategies to assist their students in their own research as
well as provided techniques on motivating and preparing students to present their research in the
PRONAFECYT. While this program provided many school and teacher leaders with the appro-
priate tools needed to implement the PRONAFECYT decree, it is no longer available due to
Intel’s partial departure from Costa Rica. However, there are other organizations such as the
Omar Dengo Foundation that are working to improve the quality and equity of learning opportu-
nities for Costa Rican students in both rural and urban areas “through pedagogical proposals that
focus on people and the use of technologies of information and communication” (Omar Dengo
Foundation, 2015, para. 1).
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 45
The literature suggests that the success of the science fair movement has encouraged the
Costa Rican MEP to focus on developing a broad-based PRONAFECYT implementation plan
(Valencia, 2011). While some schools seem to produce some PRONAFECYT and ISEF partici-
pants, many schools are not producing any (Valencia, 2011). Having an understanding of the
history of the PRONAFECYT initiative and the purpose for its inception will provide clarity as
the study examines the ways in which educational leaders at primary schools are working to have
their students participate in the PRONAFECYT. If some educational leaders are perceived to
have more success than others with implementation, then their leadership strategies and actions
could be replicated so that more schools can increase their participation in the PRONAFECYT
and thus comply with the Executive Decree.
STEM-PBL Framework
Public schools in Costa Rica are making vast curricular changes as they implement the
PRONAFECYT decree in an effort to produce a knowledge-driven workforce of innovators and
inventors who possess the 21st-century skills necessary to be self-reliant in the global economy
(CINDE, 2013a; Wagner, 2012). One key element to successful implementation is providing
students with a specialized curriculum that is focused on STEM PBL and 21st-century skills, or
soft skills. Friedman (2007) argued that
we should be embarking immediately on an all-hands-on-deck, no-holds-barred, no-
budget-too-large crash program for science and engineering education. Scientists and
engineers don’t grow on trees; they have to be educated through a long process. (p. 373)
In order to develop the process that Friedman referred to, students must be presented with the
appropriate content and context in their K–12 education and beyond. This section will provide
an overview of STEM curriculum, the PBL model, and 21st-century skills. The overview will be
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 46
followed by an explanation of how the aforementioned instructional pieces can be interwoven
together in the STEM–PBL framework developed by Capraro et al. (2013).
STEM Curriculum
STEM education is one critical piece in building human capital ready to work within the
multitude of international companies in Costa Rica. The STEM acronym is a widely recognized
term in the education, government, and business worlds, yet people in these fields have various
interpretations of the purpose behind a STEM curriculum and what its implementation looks like
in the classroom (Breiner, Harkness, Johnson, & Koehler, 2012). Generally, a STEM curriculum
includes content instruction focusing on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Some schools and teachers feel that a STEM curriculum includes instruction taught in isolated
STEM subject areas, while others see STEM concepts interwoven into core content areas with
opportunities for real-world application (Herschbach, 2011).
In recent years there has been a national push within many countries, including Costa
Rica, to promote the importance of STEM education (Avery & Reeve, 2013; Herschbach, 2011).
However, in order for STEM to permeate classrooms across the country, educators must be ready
and willing to create classrooms that are learner-centered with a strong focus on applied knowl-
edge in real-world applications (Ejiwale, 2012; Herschbach, 2011). An effective STEM program
requires teachers to redesign their lessons so that students can develop formal knowledge in the
STEM subject areas and then apply their knowledge through problem-solving and inquiry activ-
ities (Herschbach, 2011). STEM education offers students many inquiry- and problem-based
learning opportunities where students engage in active learning (Breiner et al, 2012; Sirinterlikci,
Zane, & Sirinterlikci, 2009). Active learning describes students who are involved in rigorous
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 47
lessons and activities where they are incessantly constructing new knowledge based on inquiry
(Sirinterlikci et al., 2009).
STEM classrooms often present students with a multitude of hands-on experiences where
they are given time to explore and collaborate with one another, discussing problems at hand and
finding solutions for such problems (Sirinterlikci et al., 2009). Through this active engagement
with peers, STEM students become team players, building on one another’s knowledge and
constructing new knowledge through trial-and-error experiences. Active learning allows students
to use multiple senses and higher order thinking skills to tackle problems where they must per-
severe through difficult tasks as a team—finding success and remaining engaged in their own
learning (Sirinterlikci et al., 2009). One way to maximize learning of STEM content and active
learning is through PBL.
Project-Based Learning
PBL is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by investigating
and responding to a complex question, problem, or challenge over an extended period of time
(Slough & Milam, 2013). PBL is a classroom model that moves away from teacher-centered
lessons to classroom practices and activities that are student centered and weave in real-world
issues and practices (Capraro & Jones, 2013). There are eight essential elements within the PBL
model, all of which are necessary for effective implementation. These elements are discussed in
greater detail in the next section.
The implementation of PBL in public schools dates back to the 1800s to the work of
Francis W. Parker and John Dewey (Burlbaw, Ortwein, & Williams, 2013). While PBL was
originally intended to help students develop solutions to real-world problems occurring at that
time, it was later changed to include favorable activities that seemed unimportant or momentary.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 48
PBL was originally utilized in educational programs that focused on agriculture and the industrial
arts. However, the benefits of PBL were transferred to all subject areas by the mid-1900s and can
be seen today in many classrooms around the world (Burlbaw et al., 2013).
There are eight essential components that can be seen within an effective PBL classroom.
PBL classrooms have activities that show the importance of knowledge and skills acquisition but
remain grounded in academic standards and key concepts (Yetkiner, Anderoglu, Capraro, 2008).
PBL classrooms also promote 21st-century competencies wherein students can problem solve,
think critically, collaborate, communicate, and utilize their creativity and innovation skills in a
variety of ways. These 21st-century skills are explicitly taught with a plethora of opportunities
for students to engage in distributive practice. In order for students to be fully immersed in a
PBL learning environment, they must engage in activities where they are encouraged to ask
questions and seek out a multitude of resources to develop answers to questions that arise during
the process (Sirinterlikci et al., 2009). While students are engaged in activities, they are pre-
sented with a driving question that peaks their interest and frames their exploration. The ques-
tion must be open-ended and motivating. As students in PBL classrooms attempt to work
through the driving question, they are faced with opportunities where they see the importance of
obtaining requisite skills and acquiring new knowledge as a means to help them get close to
answering the question and to create their project products. PBL classrooms provide students
with the safety and freedom to make choices about time management and creative decisions
regarding the project product within a structured environment that is guided by the teacher
(Sirinterlikci et al., 2009; Slough & Milam, 2013).
Slough and Milam (2013) argued that as students in PBL classrooms work on their
project products, they are involved in the iterative process of critique and revisions. Students
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 49
work together to provide one another with clear, effective feedback on the quality of their work,
which subsequently leads to future revisions and/or further research inquiries. Once students
have revised their project product based on peer and instructor feedback, students present their
work to a public audience beyond their classmates and teacher. In doing so, not only do students
work on their 21st-century competencies of acquiring new knowledge through collaboration and
creativity, but also they have opportunities to communicate what they learned with respect to the
driving question and to share their personal reflections that came about throughout the PBL
process (Bell, 2010; Slough & Milam, 2013; Wagner, 2012). Students who actively engage in a
PBL learning environment tend to be better equipped with the appropriate skills and knowledge
to face the challenges they meet.
Integration of STEM and PBL
When students are exposed to a STEM curriculum or PBL classroom in isolation, they are
very likely to acquire the requisite soft skills needed to be successful in a variety of employment
situations. However, Capraro et al. (2013) argued that when STEM and PBL are combined, the
effects on student success are magnified. Students who actively participate in a STEM–PBL
learning environment are more likely to succeed in postsecondary institutions where these 21st-
century competencies are essential to success (Capraro & Slough, 2013; Wagner, 2012). If
students are successful at the postsecondary level, they have a plethora of employment opportuni-
ties awaiting them in the global marketplace.
Capraro et al. (2013) defined STEM PBL as an instructional model where students have
vague tasks that are structured within a well-defined outcome. The crux of the STEM–PBL
model presents students with a STEM-based, contextually rich task that requires them to solve
multiple problems as a means to demonstrate their mastery of skills and concepts. Capraro et al.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 50
argued that STEM is naturally suited to align with PBL because of the interconnectedness found
within the STEM fields. STEM–PBL classrooms offer students a contextualized, authentic
learning experience where students scaffold their own inquiry and build upon meaningful STEM
concepts that are supported by other content areas such as social studies, language arts, and art
(Capraro & Slough, 2013; Sirinterlikci et al., 2009). Students in a STEM–PBL program have
numerous activities whereby they can hone their skills in collaboration, communication, and
problem solving. STEM PBL forces students to create their own learning trajectory within the
confines of a rigorous academic program. The skills learned in a STEM–PBL environment
promote 21st-century competencies and prepare students to be successful in college and future
careers.
The STEM–PBL instructional model has many components that may support Costa Rican
students in developing critical thinking skills and experiences necessary to meet the labor
demands of the global marketplace. The STEM–PBL framework developed by Capraro et al.
(2013) can provide guidelines for evaluating how effective Costa Rican educational leaders are
within the PRONAFECYT implementation by focusing on specific instructional elements that
will help support the PRONAFECYT initiative. This study utilized the STEM–PBL framework
of Capraro et al. to examine current instructional practices within the primary schools to deter-
mine whether they align with any aspect of the STEM–PBL model.
Twenty-First-Century Thinking Skills
In order for Costa Rican students to effectively engage in STEM–PBL inquiry and
activities, they must be concurrently taught 21st-century thinking skills, or soft skills. The 21st-
century thinking skills require people to effectively communicate, collaborate, and think critically
and creatively. These skills define the ways in which people think and work and the tools they
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 51
utilize to carry out that work (Opfer & Saavedra, 2012; P21, 2009). If Costa Rican students
exhibit these soft skills upon entering the workforce, they will be prepared to meet the challenges
and demands of the local MNCs and the new global economy. Wagner (2008) contended that
there are seven key skills that comprise 21st-century thinking skills, as discussed below.
Critical thinking and problem solving. As Costa Rica works to build and develop its
human capital, the country must ensure that its students have every opportunity to develop
critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The world now consists of a multitude of problems
that have to be solved. In all employment situations, people are asked to work together to tackle
various situations, often within a specified time frame. Those people who possess a deep under-
standing of problem solving will be sure to ask the right questions that will lead them to creative
solutions (P21, 2009; Wagner, 2008)
Written and oral communication. A key component of the 21st-century skills is being
able to clearly articulate one’s findings and thinking through communication. As people get out
into the world, they must be able to write, speak, and present with clarity and passion. These
skills allow for them to synthetize others’ ideas as well as their own and present conclusions or
findings in a clear, concise manner (Wagner, 2008).
Collaboration across networks and leading by influence. In order for people to work
in the global marketplace, they must be able to work with others on physical and virtual teams
collaboratively. In working with these teams, people must exhibit the art of listening and seeing
value in what others have to say (Hurley, 2006). Effective collaborators must also possess a
sense of global awareness to understand key global issues that affect the international commu-
nity. True collaborators understand, respect, and value differences amongst people (P21, 2009;
Wagner, 2008, 2012).
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 52
Agility and adaptability. Wagner (2008) contended that countries need people who are
agile and can adapt easily. Jobs are changing so rapidly and drastically that people need to be
ready to take on complex demands. People need to be flexible and learn new skills at a fast rate
in order to apply the newly acquired skills in the job setting. Those who are agile and adaptable
will become genuine lifelong learners.
Initiative and entrepreneurship. Leaders need people who take initiative in their job.
They want people who bring innovative ideas and think of new strategies to solve old problems.
The new global market requires people not only to take initiative but also to then take their ideas
and package them in such a way that others will take interest. The notion of entrepreneurship is
necessary to fuel innovative ideas.
Accessing and analyzing information. In the current global marketplace, employees
must be able to access and evaluate information from a variety of sources such as journal articles,
magazines, podcasts, websites, face-to-face interviews and discussions, videos, surveys, books,
and so on. It is necessary for people to understand how rapidly information is changing and be
able to synthesize it, find important details, and then know what to do with that information.
Curiosity and imagination. The global marketplace is fueled by curiosity and imagina-
tion. It is no longer sufficient for countries to have workers who simply possess a wealth of
knowledge (Friedman 2007; Wagner, 2012). Only jobs of innovators and entrepreneurs will be
immune to outsourcing in the global economy. If countries want to be competitive, they must
embrace a culture of curiosity and imagination that leads to innovative practices and thinking.
People must be able to think “outside of the box” to develop unique solutions. There should be
driven passion and the innate urge to improve upon the old or develop something new and market
it in a way that others are grabbing for it. The curious and imaginative workers are the key
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 53
players who will move countries forward on the international economic platform (Friedman,
2007; Wagner, 2008, 2012).
With respect to the implementation of the PRONAFECYT initiative, the literature
suggests that the STEM–PBL instructional model infused with 21st-century skills would be
beneficial to successful implementation of the PRONAFECYT Executive Decree. A STEM
curriculum within a PBL environment is a key strategy that will develop students’ reasoning
skills in STEM fields—a critical component of the educational reform efforts of the MEP and
MICITT. Teachers’ STEM–PBL instructional practice can lead to an increase in students’
mastery of STEM knowledge and 21st-century skills (Capraro et al., 2013). However, the
successful implementation of the STEM–PBL framework relies heavily on strong, visionary
leadership.
Leadership and Change
The global economy is forcing societies to become information intensive rather than
production intensive, thus forcing a paradigm shift within each country’s educational system
(Bolman & Deal, 2008). To satisfy this new global demand, countries are charged with the task
of producing a workforce with a 21st-century skillset, thereby forcing schools to articulate how
they are going to develop and enhance human capital from within (Fullan, 2010; Wagner, 2008,
2012). These changes require effective educational reform that must be spearheaded by strong,
visionary leadership (Bolman & Deal, 2008; Kotter, 1996). This section explains Bolman and
Deal’s (2008) leadership framework as well as Kotter’s (1996) change framework and connects
how the study might use these frameworks in understanding Costa Rica’s educational leaders’
impact on the PRONAFECYT implementation.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 54
As educational leaders in Costa Rica seek to implement the PRONAFECYT Executive
Decree, they must carefully utilize their various leadership skills and knowledge base to be
effective. Implementing change to improve organizational processes is difficult (Clark & Estes,
2008). Working to take a school system through the change process requires leaders to be
visionary, always working to develop a shared belief and sense of community among the mem-
bers of an organization and a collective understanding of the purpose for the mission (Bolman &
Deal, 2008; Fullan, 2010; Kotter, 1996; Marzano et al., 2005).
Bolman and Deal’s Leadership Framework
This study used Bolman and Deal’s (2008) leadership framework to assess and under-
stand the various leadership frames that Costa Rican educational leaders are utilizing as they
work to implement the PRONAFECYT mandate. This framework identifies four frames in
which leaders may find themselves (i.e., structural, political, human resources, and symbolic) and
is used as a tool to discuss leadership qualities that can affect institutional change.
Structural frame. Leadership requires people to possess skills within a structural frame.
Leaders engage in the structural frame when they focus on the architecture of the organization,
differentiation and integration, designing of units, goals, and policies and efficiency. Effective
structural leaders tend to ensure they have all the facts needed prior to making decisions. They
often rethink the relationship of strategy, structure, and environment (Bolman & Deal, 2008).
Many of these leaders focus on the implementation process through experimenting, evaluating,
and adaptation. A structural leader will often make goals clear to all parties, attend to relation-
ships between the structure and the environment, and design and implement the structure to fit
the circumstances. It is common for structural leaders to focus on the task, facts, and to use logic
rather than simply personality or emotion (Bolman & Deal, 2008).
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 55
Political frame. Leaders must also have the skills to operate under a political framework.
The political frame requires leaders to have the ability to cope with conflict, compete for scarce
resources, and endure struggles for power. Effective political leaders articulate their needs and
wants in a concise, clear manner. They can easily assess the distribution of power and interests
and delegate to the appropriate stakeholders (Bolman & Deal, 2008). Politically framed leaders
are savvy in their persuasion and negotiating techniques and coerce only when necessary. They
have the ability to recognize a political reality by knowing the key individuals and interest groups
and their desires. Political leaders understand the nuances of building a power base and use that
power appropriately by emphasizing common interests to unify the group (Bolman & Deal,
2008).
Human resources frame. Working within the human resources frame is key in a leader-
ship position. Leaders who operate under the human resources frame tend to focus on under-
standing the whole person, including their inherent strengths and weaknesses, emotions, desires,
and needs as they work to build human capital within the organization (Bolman & Deal, 2008;
Fullan, 2010). They value the importance of relationships and acknowledge people’s feelings. A
human resources leader believes in people and clearly communicates that belief. They are often
leaders who maintain visibility and accessibility to those with whom they work (Bolman & Deal,
2008). An effective human resources leader inherently believes that people are the heart of the
organization, ensuring that the needs of the individuals and organization are aligned. They are
adept in recruiting and cultivating talent and work to empower others through their participation,
openness, and encouragement (Bolman & Deal, 2008; Fullan, 2010).
Symbolic frame. Leaders must also possess the necessary skills to operate under a
symbolic frame. Symbolic leadership requires leaders to have meaning and faith (Hurley, 2006).
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 56
They must understand how to shape culture and provide purpose and meaning to their work
through a shared mission and identity (Bolman & Deal, 2008; Fullan, 2010). Symbolic leaders
tend to lead by example, communicate their vision, and use symbols to capture the attention of
others. Those working within a symbolic frame become inspirational to those around them.
They are passionate about making the organization the best of its kind and make sure to commu-
nicate this passion in a clear, effective manner (Bolman & Deal, 2008). Symbolic leaders use
their knowledge of the organization’s culture and persuasive skills to articulate their vision to
help carry it out.
All organizations, including school systems, require leadership that is dynamic in order to
move the organization forward. Highly effective leaders tend to fluidly move within each of the
four frames—possessing a multiframe mindset. These leaders examine an entire situation
through multiple lenses, using various skills and knowledge to effect change and make key
decisions (Bolman & Deal, 2008). Leaders must be visionary and have a clear image of what the
future holds by setting goals and standards for performance in achieving those goals. Effective
leaders must have a deep, personal commitment to the work they do and be able to inspire and
instill passion in others with whom they work (Fullan, 2010). While operating under all four
frames is essential for leaders to effect change, it is evident that leadership does not stem from
one individual. Change will occur when leaders work to build cooperative relationships that
revolve around a common goal (Bolman & Deal, 1994; Fullan, 2010; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2000;
Rueda, 2011).
Kotter’s Change Framework
As Costa Rican public school leaders attempt to implement the PRONAFECYT initia-
tive, there are pedagogical and philosophical shifts that must happen at the site level. School site
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 57
leaders, teachers, students, and community members must all undergo a change process to carry
out the necessary shifts to be made to increase students’ readiness for the 21st-century global job
market.
This study utilized Kotter’s (1996) change framework to discuss the process of change as
it relates to the requisite implementation of the PRONAFECYT initiative. The global economy
has created both obstacles and opportunities, thus forcing countries and organizations to make
dramatic changes in order to adapt (Friedman, 2007; Kotter, 1996). Costa Rican public schools
must undergo a transformation at all levels to prepare its students to meet the challenges that face
them in the global marketplace. Kotter (1996) contended that there are two important patterns
that arise during a big change:
1. Change tends to be associated with a multistep process that creates power and motiva-
tion; and
2. High-quality leadership, not just management, drives the process.
Kotter’s (1996) change framework outlines eight essential steps to embrace and effect
change. During the first four stages of the change process, efforts must be made to weaken the
status quo. First, there must be an established sense of urgency for change. The organization
involved should examine the market and competitive realities and identify and discuss crises,
potential crises, or major opportunities. Then the parties involved should create a guiding
coalition by putting together a group with enough power to lead the change as a collaborative
team with a shared vision (Marzano et al., 2005; Rueda, 2011). The team should lead the organi-
zation in developing a shared vision to help direct the change effort and work on strategies to
support work toward the vision (Fullan, 2010; Kotter, 1996). The first stage ends with having the
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 58
team using every vehicle possible to effectively and incessantly communicate the new vision to
all stakeholders as the leadership team models the expected behaviors of all parties involved.
The second component of Kotter’s (1996) change process involves introducing new
practices to the organization. Kotter suggested that in order to empower a broad-based action,
the focus should first be on removing any obstacle that impedes the shared vision and then
changing systems or structures that undermine the new vision (Rueda, 2011). Once the obstacles
are removed, the environment within the organization should support risk taking and nontradi-
tional ideas, activities, and actions (Marzano et al., 2005)
Following this stage, the focus should be on generating short-term wins. The guiding
coalition should plan for public improvements in performance (i.e., wins), including visibly
recognizing and rewarding people who made the wins possible (Clark & Estes, 2008; Kotter,
1996). Through these public celebrations, the individuals are motivated to continue working
through change, despite setbacks or discomfort. These small gains should be consolidated to
produce more change. This can be done using increased credibility to change all systems,
structures, and policies that do not fit the transformation and vision. The process can also be
supported by hiring, promoting, and developing people who can implement the change vision
and reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents (Fullan, 2010;
Kotter, 1996).
The final component of the change process ensures that the change is ingrained in the
organization’s culture (Kotter, 1996). Connections between new behaviors and the success of the
organization should be clearly and publicly articulated. Once members see the value of the
change and the fruit of their efforts, their focus should be on sustainability. Thus, the focus
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 59
moves to appropriate leadership development and succession to maintain the change efforts
(Kotter, 1996).
The literature suggests that following Kotter’s (1996) eight essential levels of change
would be beneficial for Costa Rican educational leaders. As school leaders work to comply with
the PRONAFECYT Executive Decree, they should initiate the change process by establishing a
sense of urgency and developing a vision for the school and a roadmap for achieving the vision
(Rueda, 2011). The school leaders must be sure to communicate the purpose for and progress of
the vision to all stakeholders involved in the change process. Throughout this process, the
leaders must make efforts to empower others as they work to build human capital from within the
school site (Fullan, 2010). With an understanding that change is not always a smooth transition,
school leaders should publicly value the successes made and focus on short-term wins. These
short- term wins should be consolidated to demonstrate forward movement toward the vision. In
order to sustain the change efforts and continue work toward the shared vision, the new ap-
proaches should be embedded within the school’s culture through leadership development
(Kotter, 1996).
Chapter Summary
This literature review focused on how Costa Rica’s political and economic historical
narratives have played a large role in current K–12 and postsecondary educational shifts as the
country prepares to be a key player in the global marketplace. It first discussed the evolution of
globalization and its direct relationship with key changes being made within the public
educational system (Spring, 2008). It then explored the various political and economic agencies
that have banned together to help the country to produce a knowledge-based workforce. The
literature review delved into the STEM–PBL framework of Capraro et al. (2013) in connection
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 60
with 21st-century skills as a vehicle that could achieve positive outcomes with regard to the
mandated PRONAFECYT Executive Decree. Finally, in an effort to support the vast educational
shifts occurring across the country, this review examined Bolman and Deal’s (2008) leadership
framework and Kotter’s (1996) change framework as means to evaluate and assess how Costa
Rican educational leaders are complying with the PRONAFECYT initiative and preparing their
students to be competitive in the global economy.
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CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Around the world, countries are making significant changes to their educational systems
as they work to develop global workers who are prepared with the 21st-century skills needed to
be successful in the global marketplace (Friedman, 2007). Costa Rica is one country that has
made a commitment to improving its international presence in the global economy by way of
increasing the educational experiences of its youth. As Costa Rica works to develop its own
global workforce, the country’s school system has undergone substantial changes to provide
students with the necessary 21st-century skills and content to be equipped to meet the labor
demands of the MNCs that choose to expand their businesses on Costa Rican soil (Friedman,
2007).
One significant change within the Costa Rican educational system stems from the cre-
ation of the PRONAFECYT initiative, which states that all schools are required to have students
participate in a site-based science fair. Currently there is a lack of information on how educa-
tional leaders are implementing the PRONAFECYT initiative at the school sites, especially at the
primary school level. The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of educational
leadership on participation in the PRONAFECYT by primary schools in Costa Rica.
The study identified the role that school leaders have had in the development and imple-
mentation of the PRONAFECYT initiative. This purpose was addressed through the following
four research questions:
1. What is the role that educational leaders play in implementing the PRONAFECYT
initiative?
2. How do teacher practices at successful schools differ from teacher practices at less
successful schools, as measured by participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT?
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 62
3. How have site and system leaders prepared their schools to equip students with 21st-
century skills (soft skills) necessary to participate in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT?
4. How has participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT affected instructional
practices?
Chapter 2 reviewed the literature relevant to understanding how current Costa Rican
educational leaders are working to implement the PRONAFECYT initiative. This chapter
focuses on the various components of the study: methodology, research design, sample and
population, data collection and instrumentation, data analysis, and ethical considerations.
Frameworks
The dissertation group utilized the following four frameworks as a lens when approaching
the purpose of the study: (a) Spring’s (2008) definition of the globalization of education, (b) the
STEM–PBL instructional model of Capraro et al. (2013), (3) Bolman and Deal’s (2008) four-
frame leadership model, and (d) Kotter’s (1996) change process.
Spring (2008) discussed the various components that comprise the globalization of edu-
cation. He felt that the globalization of education occurs when local and national school systems
change as a result of political and cultural discussions that happen on a global scale. The current
global discussions are influencing decisions made by national and local educational policymak-
ers, school administrators, college faculties, teachers, and intergovernmental organizations as
well as NGOs. Spring suggested that a key aspect of the globalization of education is under-
standing that many nations adopt similar educational practices, including curricula, school
organizations, and pedagogies, as they work to become competitive in the global marketplace.
The globalization of education is impacted by the worldwide marketing of higher education and
education services, such as technology, e-learning, and communications. School systems must
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take into account these services and products as they focus on effective instructional practices
and curriculum within classrooms. Spring argued that educational officials at the national and
local levels in developed and developing countries are now restructuring their educational
systems to produce a skilled, knowledge-ready workforce prepared to meet the new labor
demands called for in the international community.
The work of Capraro et al. (2013) around the effectiveness of STEM PBL serves as a
model practice when preparing students with the requisite 21st-century skills necessary to meet
the workforce demands of the high-technology MNCs moving into Costa Rica. The authors
defined the STEM–PBL instructional approach as providing students with a multitude of inquiry
tasks with clearly defined outcomes. Capraro et al. contended that students in STEM–PBL class-
rooms are met with STEM-based tasks that call for them to use various 21st-century competen-
cies to find solutions. Through the process of inquiry and problem solving, students develop the
skills they need to work collaboratively in a high-tech industry. Capraro et al. also felt that
STEM is naturally suited to align with PBL because of how interconnected the STEM fields are
with one another. The skills learned in a STEM–PBL environment promote 21st-century abili-
ties and prepare students to be successful in college and future high-technology companies.
Bolman and Deal’s (2008) leadership framework revolves around a four-frame model.
The authors argued that all organizations, including school systems, require leadership that is
dynamic in order to move the organization forward, but that dynamism stems from moving
fluidly among four distinct frames: structural, political, human resources, and symbolic. When
leaders engage in the structural frame, they tend to focus on the architecture of the organization,
differentiation and integration, designing of units, goals, and policies and efficiency. Bolman and
Deal (2008) suggested that leaders must also have the skills to operate under a political
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 64
framework. The political frame requires leaders to have the ability to cope with conflict, com-
pete for scarce resources, and endure struggles for power. When leaders work within the human
resources frame, they tend to focus on understanding the whole person, including their inherent
strengths and weaknesses, emotions, desires, and needs, as they work to build human capital
within the organization (Bolman & Deal, 2008). Leaders in the symbolic frame understand how
to shape culture and provide purpose and meaning to their work through a shared mission and
identity (Bolman & Deal, 2008; Fullan, 2010). Symbolic leaders tend to lead by example,
communicate their vision, and use symbols to capture the attention of others.
Kotter’s (1996) change framework outlines eight essential steps to embrace and affect
change. During the first four stages of the change process, efforts must be made to weaken the
status quo. There must be an established sense of urgency for change, a guiding coalition, and a
shared vision to help direct the change effort and work on strategies to support work toward the
vision (Kotter, 1996; Fullan, 2010). The second component of Kotter’s change process involves
introducing new practices to the organization while removing obstacles in the pathway. Once the
obstacles are removed, the environment within the organization should support risk taking and
nontraditional ideas, activities, and actions (Marzano et al., 2005). The next stage should focus
on generating short-term wins that must be consolidated to produce more change. Once the
pathway for change is clear, the change should be ingrained in the organization’s culture (Kotter,
1996). Thus, the focus moves to appropriate leadership development and succession to maintain
the change efforts (Kotter, 1996).
These four frameworks provided structure and guidelines for the study’s protocols and
outlined specific standards that will provide context when examining the findings and drawing
meaning from them.
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Research Design
A qualitative case study approach was used as a method to collect and analyze data for
this study. Qualitative research methods focus on understanding individuals’ realities within a
specific research problem or phenomenon (Merriam, 2009). Qualitative studies allow research-
ers to understand and explore individuals’ behaviors, beliefs, and experiences in an effort to
discover how people make sense of their own personal worlds within a natural setting (Maxwell,
2013; Merriam, 2009).
This case study utilized the qualitative case study approach to observe the effects of
educational leadership on the participation of the PRONAFECYT initiative in Costa Rica.
Merriam (2009) suggested that in order to understand the various levels of implementation that
are occurring at each school site, it is essential to capture the feelings, behaviors, and beliefs of
the various people involved in the implementation process. Understanding and exploring their
individual experiences provided insight into what leadership practices and behaviors could be
attributed to successful and unsuccessful PRONAFECYT implementation.
The qualitative approach was also used as a means to extract rich, descriptive data. The
study sought to gather and collect rich data through interviews and observations. This type of
data provided a holistic understanding of how Costa Rican educational leaders implement the
PRONAFECYT initiative at their school sites and shed light on general characteristics that
educational leaders may possess when having great success with their PRONAFECYT imple-
mentation (Merriam, 2009).
Research Team
The research team was led by Dr. Michael Escalante and Dr. Oryla Wiedoeft of the USC
Rossier School of Education. This dissertation group was comprised of 18 USC doctoral
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 66
students. The group began meeting in the fall of 2014. The initial research focused on the
review of the current literature that was presented by group members in the winter of 2014. The
group met twice a month to collaborate and collectively plan the study design. All 18 doctoral
students traveled to Costa Rica in June of 2015 and collected data during a 10-day stay.
Sample and Population
School sites were purposefully selected within the scope of access that research team
members were granted by the MEP. The total sample population consisted of 18 primary schools
that were selected by the MEP officials, as well as seven government officials, 18 site administra-
tors, and a regional PRONAFECYT director. Access to political leaders, directors, and schools
was obtained through the work of previous doctoral studies from USC, specifically Dr. Oryla
Wiedoeft. With the help of Dr. Wiedoeft, the researchers obtained the contact information of key
political leaders, regional directors, and schools that met the criteria for the study.
While the school sample population for the entire research team included 18 sites, this
study focused particularly on one school. For purposes of confidentiality, the school site on
which this study focused is referred to as Bayside Elementary (a pseudonym). Bayside is a public
primary school in the heart of the Mountain Region (a pseudonym). The school houses about
600 students in Cycles I and II (Grades K–6); the students reside in the local area near the school.
While most of the students’ families are able to pay for the required uniforms and school materi-
als, there is a small percentage of the student body that receives financial assistance for school
incidentals. Bayside is one of the oldest schools in Costa Rica, with its inaugural class entering
the school in 1936. The school’s main building is considered a historic landmark.
While the school building is ancient, Bayside boasts many recent changes. For example,
it is the first urban school in Costa Rica to have solar panels placed on the roof to reduce electric
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 67
cost and carbon footprint. Furthermore, the school claims to have adapted to new educational
initiatives, specifically the PRONAFECYT. According to the school’s director, Bayside has
made many changes to comply with the national mandate for student participation in the
PRONAFECYT program. The director asserted that students have been participating in the
PRONAFECYT since 2000, including many students who moved beyond the school site compe-
tition to fairs at the circuit level, regional level, and national level on multiple occasions.
The people interviewed at Bayside Elementary were School Director Addy Lia and four
teachers, including the Science Fair Coordinator and a former coordinator, a science teacher, and
an English teacher (see Table 1). The School Director had been appointed to her position about 5
months prior to the study. Four of the five teachers interviewed had been at the school for over
10 years, and each of them had experienced being on the school’s PRONAFECYT committee
some time in their career. The English teacher, Kay Park, who joined the staff just last year, had
not been a part of the school’s science fair committee until the current school year.
Table 1
Summary of Interviewed School Site Participants
Name Position
Addy Lia School Director
Shari Ramsey Science Fair Coordinator
Michele Berns Science teacher
Janice Donyanavard Former Science Fair Coordinator
Kay Park English teacher
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A purposive sampling strategy was used to ensure a variety of perspectives in order to
have a more holistic understanding of the various educational leadership actions necessary for
successful implementation of the PRONAFECYT initiative (Merriam, 2009). Drs. Escalante and
Wiedoeft made the initial contact via e-mail (see Appendix A) with Alicia Porras, Vice Minister
of Education; and Natalie Valencia, Director of the PRONAFECYT, to obtain a list of 18
research sites (see Appendix B) where the research team conducted interviews and observations
and administered surveys. The 18 school sites were identified based on several parameters. All
sites were primary schools. This grade span was specifically selected by the MEP and the
MICITT due to the lack of research on PRONAFECYT initiative implementation at the primary
school level. The schools were also selected based on their level of PRONAFECYT implemen-
tation and were chosen based on their close proximity to San José, where the research team was
based.
The sample population consisted of three major groups: (a) educational leaders, including
school directors and teachers; (b) business leaders; and (c) government officials. The individuals
whom the research team interviewed included the Vice Minister of Public Education, the Direc-
tor of the PRONAFECYT, the Director of CINDE, one current and one former regional
PRONAFECYT director, and the school director at Bayside primary school (see Table 2). The
research team identified these three groups as important entities who would provide key informa-
tion in the triangulation of the data. The data collected from each sample group provided the
study with a deeper understanding regarding the PRONAFECYT implementation at the primary
school level.
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Table 2
Summary of Interviewed Government and Business Participants
Group
Name Position affiliation
Javier Cambronero Congressman Government
Alicia Porras Vargas Vice Minister of Academic Education Government
Carolina Vasquez Soto Vice Minister of MICITT Government
Natalie Valencia PRONAFECYT Coordinator Government
Patricia Arias Science Advisor, Mountain Region Government
Sylvia Ugalde Fernandez Consulate General Government
Lander Perez Former Science Advisor, Mountain Region Government
Vanessa Gibson Director of Corporate Development and Business
Investment Climate, CINDE
Mary Helen Bialas Senior Program Manager, Council for Promotion Business
of Competitiveness
Maria Santos Passamontes Director, Estado de la Nacion, Unidad Nacionales Business
Note. MICITT = Ministry of Science, Technology, and Telecommunications; PRONAFECYT =
Programa Nacional de Ferias de Ciencia y Tecnología; CINDE = Costa Rican Investment Promo-
tion Agency.
Instrumentation
Creswell (2014) suggested that offering multiple perspectives causes the results of a study
to be more realistic and valid. In an effort to gain multiple perspectives, this study utilized a
variety of data collection instruments from different sample groups to obtain a holistic
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understanding of the research problem. To gather the necessary information, three methods were
used to gather and collect data. Interviews were conducted with various people involved in the
PRONAFECYT implementation process. Many of those who were interviewed were also given
a survey as a means to triangulate the data collected. Classroom observations were conducted at
school sites as an additional method to corroborate the data extracted from the interviews and
surveys.
Interviews
Interviews are important for data collection in qualitative studies because they help the
researcher to discover truths that cannot be observed (Patton, 2002). Interacting with various
purposefully selected participants allows a researcher to understand individual perspectives and
beliefs on a particular topic or problem as well as to learn about past events or details about
climate and culture that can be understood only through conversations with a purpose (Weiss,
1994).
The researchers conducted standardized, open-ended interviews with members from each
of the three essential groups. Interview questions were predetermined by the research group and
collaboratively constructed and aligned with the research questions (Patton, 2002). The research
team collaboratively created interview protocols in English and Spanish for teachers (see Appen-
dix C), school directors (see Appendix D), government officials/business leaders (see Appendix
E), parents (see Appendix F), and students (see Appendix G). The research team collaboratively
created an interview protocol in both English and Spanish. Probes or follow-up questions were
used when the need arose in an effort to extract information-rich data (Merriam, 2009). Because
the participants in these structured, open-ended interviews answered the same questions, it was
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easier to collect data and compare responses; however, it is important to note that the questions
did not always appeal to each individual in the same way (Patton, 2002).
Observations
Research observations are another systematic data-collection tool used to gather descrip-
tions on individuals’ realities within their natural environment (Merriam, 2009). Observations
serve to provide the study with descriptive data on how individuals act and interact within their
own environment. The descriptive data derived from observations may help the researcher make
inferences about individuals’ perspectives and beliefs that were not captured within an interview
setting (Maxwell, 2013).
In this study, classroom observations were purposefully selected as a data collection tool.
Maxwell (2013) felt that the primary goal of observations is to capture as rich a description as
possible in order to triangulate data, thus giving the researcher a deeper understanding of the
issues being investigated. Therefore, observing classroom instruction, student activities, and
culture at each of the primary school sites with the use of an observation protocol served as an
opportunity to gather rich, descriptive data that could support the key concepts discussed during
the interviews. An observation protocol was created by the research team and was utilized
during classroom observations (see Appendix H).
Surveys
Fink (2013) contended that conducting surveys is a good form of data collection when
researchers want to evaluate the effectiveness of a program and to change people’s knowledge,
attitudes, health, or welfare. Coinciding with this theory, surveys were utilized as a third data
collection tool to evaluate the current implementation of the PRONAFECYT initiative and to
corroborate information gleaned from the interviews and observations. The research group
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collectively created self-administered survey protocols for teachers (see Appendix I), school
directors (see Appendix J), government officials (see Appendix K), business partners (see
Appendix L), parents (see Appendix M), and students (see Appendix N). The Likert-style item
response was specifically chosen for the surveys as a way to make data collection easier and as an
attempt to make the surveys meaningful, purposeful, and user friendly for both the respondents
and the researchers (Fink, 2013). Because the data collection period was short, it seemed appro-
priate and feasible to administer online surveys to business officials, government officials, and
MEP and MICITT directors so that data could be easily and quickly collected and analyzed (Fink,
2013). Access to the Internet and translation was an issue; therefore, English and Spanish hard
copies were available to all sample groups, especially teachers and school directors.
Data Collection
Data were collected by the research team in Costa Rica. The researchers gathered data
through interviews, observations, and surveys. All data were collected within a 10-day window
in June 2015 in Costa Rica. Data were collected from government and business officials on the
first 2 weekdays; data collected at the schools sites were conducted during the following 3
weekdays. The final weekday was reserved for any additional data collection that was needed.
The entire research team collected data through surveys and interviews from the government and
business officials and then split into groups of six to collect data at the school sites within three
regions. This researcher’s study focused on one school within the Mountain Region.
All surveys were given in Spanish, unless preferred in English. The research interviews
took place in person in a private setting and in the language of the interviewees’ preference (Mer-
riam, 2009). The interviews were recorded for future data analysis once the interviewee was
provided with a consent form (see Appendix O) and agreed to be recorded. Questions were
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 73
asked one at a time to give the interviewees time to process the question and think of an answer.
Each of the observations at the school sites was conducted by pairs of researchers utilizing the
Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved observation protocol. The protocol was used for the
researchers to take notes and compare notes later on.
Data Analysis
Creswell (2014) asserted that qualitative researchers intend to make sense out of text and
image data through data analysis. For this study, Dedoose, an online qualitative analysis system,
was used to assist in the data analysis process of triangulating and examining the data from
multiple angles to establish central themes related to the research questions. In an effort to sys-
tematically analyze the data derived from the various surveys, interviews, and observations, the
researchers used Creswell’s six-step qualitative data analysis process. Although the process
seemed simple and linear, it was actually both complex and iterative. Creswell’s six steps are as
follows:
• Step 1: “Organize and prepare data for analysis” (p. 197). This step involves getting
the data ready for analysis through transcription of interviews, typing up field notes,
and sorting data by the various types and sources of information.
• Step 2: Read through all the data. This step requires an initial overview of the data as
a means to gather general themes or ideas about what the participants are saying.
• Step 3: Begin a detailed analysis with a coding process. The coding process is used to
create categories or themes for analysis. In the first cycle of coding, the raw data will
be examined closely using a priori codes and open codes derived from the key con-
cepts found in the literature review.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 74
• Step 4: “Use coding process to generate a description of the setting or people as well
as categories or themes for analysis” (p. 199). In this step, the data will be analyzed in
a second cycle. During second cycle coding, analytic and pattern codes will be cre-
ated based on patterns found from the first cycle codes (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña,
2014). In the second cycle coding process, connections and patterns will be examined
within the first cycle codes to come up with categories that summarized some of the a
priori and open codes.
• Step 5: “Advance how the description and themes will be represented in the qualita-
tive narrative” (p. 200). This step requires the researcher to construct a narrative
around the descriptions and themes to convey the findings. A discussion, visuals,
figures, and tables may be used to explain the findings during the analysis.
• Step 6: Make an interpretation of the findings or results. In this part of the analysis,
the researcher conveys the lessons that were learned from the findings. Interpretations
can be made from the findings that can lead to change or reforms.
Reliability, Validity, and Generalizability
Many steps were taken to ensure that the data findings were reliable, valid, and generaliz-
able. The use of multiple data collection methods in this study was intended to strengthen the
reliability and validity of the findings (Creswell, 2014). The data derived from the surveys, inter-
views, and observations were triangulated and examined from multiple angles in order to estab-
lish central themes related to the research questions (Miles et al., 2014). A second triangulation
method that was used in the study included varying the profession of individuals selected for
interviews and observations (Miles et al., 2014). Three groups of people from government offi-
cials to classroom teachers were purposefully selected in an attempt to gain the perceptions of
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different stakeholders who have a hand in the PRONAFECYT implementation (Merriam, 2009).
Observation data were triangulated by school site, grade level, and time of day. Observations
occurred at two school sites, in a variety of grade levels, and at different times throughout the day
to capture how an entire school was working to implement the PRONAFECYT initiative.
While triangulation was one key aspect in validating the data derived from this study,
there were also other methods employed to ensure that the information remained credible and
valid. Rich, descriptive data were used to explain the findings. In providing multiple perspec-
tives about a theme, the results were richer and more realistic (Creswell, 2014). Because multi-
ple team members collected data, the use of peer debriefing was employed as a way to heighten
the accuracy of the data.
Developing interview, survey, and observation protocols minimized the interviewer
effects and allowed for reduced bias by all of the interviewees being asked the same questions
(Patton, 1987). With the same questions being asked of all like participants, the data were
combined and generalized within the Costa Rican primary educational system.
Ethical Considerations
Maintaining high ethical standards was important to this study. All 18 members of the
research team completed the IRB application process that included the completion of the Collab-
orative Institutional Review Board Training Initiative (CITI). This is an online training program
that explains ethical conduct toward human subjects in all research projects. Following the
viewing of four modules, every team member took individual quizzes in which each person was
required to obtain at least an 80% score to pass. All instruments, including the interview proto-
cols, the observation protocol, and the survey protocols, were cleared through USC’s IRB. The
IRB process was intended to ensure that the entire research design followed requisite ethical
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considerations and that the project did not cause harm—mental, physical or otherwise—to any
participants. To obtain permission for data collection in Costa Rica, Dr. Michael Escalante and
Dr. Oryla Weidoft presented a summary of the research proposal to the MEP (see Appendix P)
Many provisions were utilized to protect participants’ privacy and confidentiality. The
research procedures were conducted in person within a private setting. Only authorized research
study members were present during the research-related activities, and the collection of partici-
pants’ information was limited to the amount necessary to focus on the research questions. All
data were stored on a secure laptop with access restricted to research team members only. The
data were labeled with a code that the research team used to link to personal identifying informa-
tion.
Before the data collection trip to Costa Rica, permission to visit the schools was granted
by the Minister of Education and the PRONAFECYT Regional Directors. Once the schools were
identified, the site directors were contacted for permission to visit the schools and talk to the
stakeholders.
Chapter Summary
Chapter 3 discussed the research methodologies that were implemented as a means to
understand the effects of educational leadership on the participation of the Costa Rican
PRONAFECYT initiative within the primary school setting. This chapter described the study’s
research design model, the sample and population, the instruments utilized, how the data collec-
tion process was conducted, and how the data were analyzed through both individual and collab-
orative efforts. Because the data collection involved interviews and surveys with educational
leaders, including regional and school directors, business leaders, government officials, and
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teachers, the researchers had a plethora of data with which to triangulate the findings during data
analysis that helped to develop a strong foundation for the findings.
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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the results that emerged from the analysis of
interviews, observations, surveys, and the literature review related to the study. The data were
analyzed through the lens of the following frameworks: (a) Spring’s (2008) definition of the
globalization of education, (b) the STEM-PBL instructional model developed by Capraro et al.
(2013), (c) Bolman and Deal’s (2008) four-frame leadership model, and (d) Kotter’s (1996)
change process.
The purpose of this study was to identify the role that educational leaders have in the
development and implementation of the PRONAFECYT initiative within Costa Rica’s primary
schools. The study identified how leadership has impacted the implementation of the
PRONAFECYT within the primary schools and also focused on how system and site leaders
support the development of 21st-century thinking skills that are necessary for successful partici-
pation in the PRONAFECYT. In addition, the study looked at how participation in the
PRONAFECYT has impacted instructional practices within the classroom.
The study utilized the following research questions to develop its purpose:
1. What is the role that educational leaders play in implementing the PRONAFECYT
initiative?
2. How do teacher practices at successful schools differ from teacher practices at less
successful schools, as measured by participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT?
3. How have site and system leaders prepared their schools to equip students with 21st-
century skills (soft skills) necessary to participate in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT?
4. How has participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT affected instructional
practices?
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Chapter 4 will first briefly review the participants and school sites that were selected for
this study. The chapter will then discuss the themes and findings for each research question by
examining the data derived from the surveys, interviews, and observations and their relevance to
the research and frameworks discussed in Chapter 2.
Participants
The sample population consisted of three major groups: educational leaders, business
leaders, and government officials. The data collected from each sample group provided the study
with a deeper understanding regarding the PRONAFECYT implementation at the primary school
level. The research team identified these groups as important educational leaders who supplied
key information and differing perspectives in the triangulation of the data. Interviews with these
individuals were conducted with multiple members from the research team. Key government
officials and business leaders whom the research team interviewed were the Vice Minister of
Public Education, the PRONAFECYT coordinator, the Director of Corporate Development and
Investment Climate at CINDE, one current regional science advisor, and the Senior Program
Manager for the Council for Promotion of Competitiveness (see Table 2).
Eighteen primary school sites (Appendix B) were preselected by Costa Rican officials
from the MEP and the MICITT. This particular study was an analysis of data that focused mainly
on one school within the Mountain Region, referred to as Bayside Elementary, but also used data
derived from another school in the same region, referred to as Atlantic Elementary (a pseud-
onym), as a means for comparison specifically for Research Question 2.
School site interviews were mainly conducted at Bayside Elementary. The people inter-
viewed at Bayside were the School Director and four teachers, including a Science Fair Coordi-
nator, a science teacher, an English teacher, and a former Science Fair Coordinator (see Table 1).
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In addition to interviews, surveys and observations were conducted with both system
educational leaders and school site educational leaders. The system leaders included seven
government officials and three business leaders who were interviewed. At Bayside, five teachers
and 64 students completed the surveys, and the team conducted six classroom observations. At
Atlantic, eight teachers and 32 students completed the surveys and the research team conducted
two classroom observations in addition to shadowing the school director for several hours (see
Table 3).
Table 3
Summary of School Site Participation
Type of data Position Site Number
Survey Teachers Bayside 5
Interview Teachers Bayside 5
Survey School Director Bayside 1
Interview School Director Bayside 1
Survey Students Bayside 64
Survey Teachers Atlantic 8
Interview Teachers Atlantic 4
Survey School Director Atlantic 1
Interview School Director Atlantic 1
Survey Students Atlantic 32
Note. The surveys and interviews conducted at Atlantic were used only during the data analysis
related to Research Question 2 (“How do teacher practices at successful schools differ from
teacher practices at less successful schools, as measured by participation in the Costa Rican
PRONAFECYT?”)
To understand the various levels of implementation at both the school site and national
levels, it was essential to capture the feelings, behaviors, and beliefs of the various people
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involved in the implementation process. The data extracted utilizing the qualitative approach
were rich and descriptive and provided insight into what practices and behaviors can be attributed
to successful and unsuccessful PRONAFECYT implementation.
Results for Research Question 1
Research Question 1 asked, “What is the role that educational leaders play in implement-
ing the PRONAFECYT initiative?”
Kotter (1996) maintained that implementation of a new program requires schools to
undergo a change process driven by high-quality leadership. There are eight essential stages in
this process: (a) creating a sense of urgency, (b) building a guiding coalition, (c) forming strategic
vision and initiatives, (d) enlisting a volunteer army, (e) enabling action by removing barriers, (f)
generating short-term wins, (g) sustaining acceleration, and (h) instituting the change. Leaders
must strategically use their own skillset and knowledge of the people with whom they work to be
effective in implementing new change through this process (Bolman & Deal, 2008). The change
process also requires symbolic leadership whereby a leader can develop a shared belief system
with the entire school community guided by a clear, collective purpose (Bolman & Deal, 2008;
Kotter, 1996; Marzano et al., 2005). Two of Kotter’s stages present themselves as distinct
themes that emerged from the analysis of data related to Research Question 1: (a) that celebration
and recognition are connected to implementation and (b) that effective leaders create a shared
vision when implementing change.
Celebration and Recognition Necessary for Implementation of Something New
Kotter (1996) felt that successful leadership incorporates the art of celebrating short-term
and long-term wins among all those involved in the change process. As an integral component of
change, Kotter noted that it is essential for educational leaders to publicly recognize and value
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 82
both small and large volumes of accomplishments of various stakeholders to maintain momen-
tum and to move implementation forward. The data suggested that many of Costa Rica’s educa-
tional leaders from MICITT, the Costa Rican government, and the school site saw the importance
of celebration and recognition and provided snippets of it for students at the site level. If celebra-
tion and recognition were fully in effect, one would expect to see not only students recognized
for their PRONAFECYT participation at the school fairs, regional fairs, and national fairs but
also the celebration of the entire school community that supports the process of PRONAFECYT
implementation.
Survey data gathered from business personnel, government officials, and Bayside’s
school director and selected teachers suggested that recognition and celebration of the
PRONAFECYT participants were prominent. Both government and business officials felt that
PRONAFECYT participants are celebrated for their accomplishments. In response to survey
item 13 (“Student PRONAFECYT participation is recognized throughout the schools”), 67% of
the government and business officials who were interviewed indicated that celebration of stu-
dents who participated in PRONAFECYT was occurring within the schools.
The School Director and teachers at Bayside who were surveyed all felt that their stu-
dents’ participation in PRONAFECYT was being celebrated and recognized within the school
itself. In response to the school director survey item 13 (“Student PRONAFECYT participation
is recognized throughout the schools”), the school director at Bayside indicated that she strongly
agreed. In response to the teacher survey item 13 (“Student PRONAFECYT participation is
recognized throughout the schools”), 100% of the five teachers indicated that student recognition
was prevalent at the school site level. Many of the students at Bayside who were surveyed
indicated a similar feeling. On item 13 of the student survey, 82% of the 64 students indicated
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that they agreed or strongly agreed that the school recognized and celebrated their participation in
the PRONAFECYT. The data analysis from the surveys revealed that celebration and recogni-
tion of student participation in PRONAFECYT was pronounced and happening at the school site.
Interviews with the school site director, teachers, and government and business officials sup-
ported the theme of celebration and recognition as instrumental when implementing a new
initiative. There was an awareness that celebration and recognition are important components of
the PRONAFECYT initiative.
When the Bayside School Director, Addy Lia, was asked how students were acknowl-
edged for their efforts in regard to PRONAFECYT, it was clear in her response that recognition
was occurring. She made a point to describe how the school planned to celebrate students who
participated in the PRONAFECYT by providing them with a little token of appreciation. Ms. Lia
also mentioned how she planned to recognize the teachers who were involved in supporting their
students’ participation, thus supporting Kotter’s (1996) assertion that small- and large-scale
celebrations should be in place for all members involved in the change process. During a per-
sonal interview, Ms. Lia affirmed that recognition was happening at the site level:
We’re going to prepare an announcement to thank all the teachers involved in the last
phase. Actually the board of education provides an award for the kids, and they get a
certificate of participation and some materials like a small box for their pencils and
crayons.
Her response in the interview indicated that both teachers and students were recognized and cele-
brated publicly and individually. She also noted that their board of education, similar to a
parent–teacher organization, went out of the way to provide students with a certificate and little
gift as a way to recognize their hard work and efforts.
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In order to understand whether this recognition of students and teachers was felt through-
out the school campus, several teachers at Bayside were interviewed and asked how students and
teachers are recognized for their efforts toward PRONAFECYT implementation. Shari Ramsey,
the Science Fair Coordinator, noted that “the principal has always been very thorough in coming
to the classroom and congratulating the student and the teacher that motivated him.” Another
teacher, Michele Berns, mentioned that teachers at Bayside are always verbally recognized and
congratulated: “They tell us if it wasn’t for us, this wouldn’t be what it is. They make us feel
very, very good and motivated.” A third teacher, Janice Donyanavard, affirmed that teachers are
recognized and celebrated for their hard work and effort in preparing their students to participate
in the PRONAFECYT. She stated that “many times we do give out certificates recognizing the
participation of the teachers. We also do public recognition during the civic assembly and we
congratulate teachers and the project tutors.” The teachers’ collective responses made it evident
that Bayside has been making a point to celebrate and recognize the key players involved in the
PRONAFECYT participation, including both teachers and students.
Interviews with business and government officials were conducted to obtain a compre-
hensive perspective on celebration and recognition with respect to the PRONAFECYT. One key
interview with Javier Cambronero, a congressman and former President of the Education,
Science and Technology Commission, revealed that the government is not doing a good job of
celebrating and recognizing those students and teachers who participate in PRONAFECYT. In
answering the question of the government’s role in recognizing the schools and regions for their
participation in PRONAFECYT, he said that
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this is a great weakness. We need to have a framework that enables the encouragement
and reward of the good things that are being done. At the end of the day there is recog-
nition, but we don’t think it is enough.
Mary Helen Bialas, a senior program manager for the Council for Promotion of Competi-
tiveness, expanded on Congressman Cambronero’s comments when asked if the government
recognizes schools and/or regions for participation in the national fairs:
No, I don’t believe so. Yes, the ministers go to the national fair award ceremonies. Yes,
they hand out awards to the kids; but having a recognition program for schools that are
science based or that are oriented towards science in general, they have not.
In a personal interview with the PRONAFECYT Coordinator, Natalie Valencia, it was
confirmed that celebration and recognition were an area of growth for the MEP and MICITT.
She discussed the need for the government to reevaluate the current system of providing
celebration and recognition of students and teachers with material awards and find new ways to
publicly value their efforts and participation as a means to increase motivation to strengthen the
school site’s implementation of the PRONAFECYT:
I think we can work harder in the teachers’ recognition and especially from the Ministry
of Public Education. I think it would be very important to work on that aspect, in order to
reward the teachers and the principals, the supervisors and the science consultants,
through a public recognition, not only the material awards are important but also a public
recognition is important. That is something all the institutions that participate in the
program can strengthen. We do it publicly, but I think we could do something more to
motivate the teachers since they are the ones who have this valuable and important task.
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Ms. Valencia’s response indicated that she was reflective in how the MEP has recognized par-
ticipants in the past and mentioned what changes should be made to strengthen that celebration
and recognition component.
During the observations of the six classrooms that were visited, there was no evidence of
recognition or celebration of student participation in the PRONAFECYT inside the classrooms.
However, photographs of this year’s school science fair winners were displayed on the front
office wall, and there were ribbons scattered on the school director’s table inside her office.
There was also a large banner hanging above the school’s auditorium that read, “Science Fair,”
along with other red decorations streaming from the walls. The results from the observations
indicated that the science fair was indeed held at the school site and the winners were acknowl-
edged and even photographed for posterity.
The data analysis derived from the surveys, interviews, and observations indicated that
educational leaders at the site level are recognizing student and teacher participation in the
PRONAFECYT but that government and business officials must make greater efforts to publicly
celebrate and recognize both teachers and students in order to fuel momentum to increase the
success of the PRONAFECYT implementation.
Effective Leaders Create a Shared Vision When Implementing Change
To effectively implement change, Bolman and Deal (2008) suggested that educational
leaders must create a sense of purpose for change through a shared vision—a theme in this study.
Leaders who seek to disrupt the status quo must first inherently believe that there is a dire need
for change and, in turn, passionately communicate that belief to others within the organization
through symbolic leadership (Bolman & Deal, 2008). A symbolic leader must know how to
shape the culture of the organization and provide purpose and meaning to their work through a
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shared mission and identity (Bolman & Deal, 2008; Fullan, 2010). As Costa Rica’s educational
leaders across all levels collectively work to implement the PRONAFECYT within each school
site, they must operate under the symbolic frame and work to inspire all those around them to
share in their vision for change and to create a sense of urgency and purpose for the
PRONAFECYT (Bolman & Deal, 2008).
Kotter (1996) suggested that one way educational leaders can create a shared vision
within their organization in order to implement a new initiative, such as PRONAFECYT, is
through clearly communicating a genuine belief that participation is good for students and good
for the country. The survey data collected from the government and business officials and the
teachers, students, and Director at Bayside suggested that the school’s leader at Bayside, Addy
Lia, was not clearly communicating a vision for the implementation of the PRONAFECYT.
According to the survey data, government officials felt that schools had a vision for the
PRONAFECYT in place. In response to government survey item 17 (“There is a schoolwide
vision for PRONAFECYT”), 83.3% of the government officials surveyed indicated that they
believed schools have a vision surrounding the PRONAFECYT within the school. Their percep-
tion was that the school directors have made the PRONAFECYT a priority and focus. On the
contrary, many of Costa Rica’s business officials who were surveyed did not share this perspec-
tive. On business survey item 17 (“There is a schoolwide vision for PRONAFECYT), 66.7% of
those surveyed indicated that they did not feel that there is a schoolwide vision for the
PRONAFECYT and 33.3% were unsure.
The notion that government and business officials have different perspectives as to how
schools are communicating the need for the PRONAFECYT implementation at the site level was
confirmed in the responses to government and business survey item 4 (“Schools communicate
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the purpose and sense of urgency for PRONAFECYT”). In response to government survey item
4, 57% of government officials interviewed indicated that they did not feel that schools are
communicating this sense of urgency and purpose for the initiative. In response to business
survey item 4, 67% of business officials affirmed that they believed that schools are communicat-
ing a sense of urgency and purpose for the PRONAFECYT. This discrepancy indicated that
there may be a lack of clear understanding from a national perspective as to what and how school
site leaders are communicating the imperative need for the PRONAFECYT and its benefits to the
country on a national scale.
Surveys were conducted at Bayside to find out whether the school director was clearly
communicating the need and benefits of the PRONAFECYT implementation to the entire school
community. As the leader of the school, the Director at Bayside felt that she has created a vision
around the PRONAFECYT and has also communicated its need and benefits to the school com-
munity, as indicated in her responses to school director survey item which indicated that she
agreed that she communicates the purpose and urgency for PRONAFECYT. The teachers’ per-
spective was quite different from the Director’s belief. The teachers at Bayside did not all feel
that their Director had conveyed a sense of urgency and need for the PRONAFECYT within the
school. In response to teacher survey item 4 (“School director communicates the purpose and
urgency for PRONAFECYT”), 60% of the five teachers indicated that they felt that the Director
has communicated a sense of urgency and purpose for the PRONAFECYT; 40% of the teachers
interviewed did not believe that their school director had shared the imperative need and purpose
for the initiative. While the School Director may have intended to communicate her vision and
purpose for implementation of the PRONAFECYT, the survey data suggested that the teachers at
Bayside did not all believe that their leader had clearly communicated the urgent need for the
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PRONAFECYT and its connection with the national goals, thereby possibly impacting how the
initiative is being implemented at this particular school.
Interview data extracted from interviews with some of the same individuals who were
surveyed indicated their perspectives with regard to educational leaders creating a shared vision
when implementing change. The data extracted from the interviews with key government and
business leaders suggested that they believed in the benefits of the PRONAFECYT as a tool to
support the national goals. In a personal interview, Javier Cambronero mentioned that he
believed that the PRONAFECYT has a place in “providing the appropriate conditions for the
childhood and youth in Costa Rica . . . in order that they have the change to continue in that line
of curiosity and observation encouraged by processes linked to scientific and technological fairs.”
Alicia Porras Vargas, Vice Minister of Education, shared his sentiments. In a personal interview,
she affirmed her belief in the PRONAFECYT that it “establishes new trends for the development
of science and technology.” Natalie Valencia, PRONAFECYT Coordinator, discussed how she
believed that the PRONAFECYT supports the national goals in the development of an innovative
workforce by providing students with more skills to become prepared, competent citizens:
PRONAFECYT is a key component to accomplish the workforce but most importantly to
be able to have a citizenship that is more committed with the country, that is more
critical, more creative, and eventually to have more students who can develop more skills
that enable them to be competent citizens but also professionals in this field with a
vocation for the scientific, technological, or engineering field.
Mary Helen Bialas, senior program manager for the Council for Promotion of Competi-
tiveness, provided a supporting response in a personal interview. She said that she hoped
“everybody sees that that’s important because this is creating the interest in science. It’s giving
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kids an opportunity to explore with their hands and use their heads to really be innovative.”
From a larger, national perspective, the interview data indicated that the government believes in
the benefits of the PRONAFECYT as a means to support the country’s economic and develop-
mental goals. The government sees the PRONAFECYT as a meaningful way to develop the
process of scientific inquiry and agrees that there is a strong link between developing the skills
involved in scientific inquiry and supporting the national goals of producing more innovative,
creative workers.
An interview with Patricia Arias, the Mountain regional science advisor, provided insight
into how the government’s beliefs in the PRONAFECYT are being conveyed at the school site
level. Data from this interview revealed that Bayside’s school directors’ vision, or lack thereof,
may have impacted how the teachers internalized the urgency and purpose of the
PRONAFECYT. Arias mentioned that
sometimes there are processes where people just comply with what is necessary but they
don’t go beyond that. So it’s important to have a clear knowledge that if we manage that,
those leaders go beyond what they are asked and the children will be able to develop
those skills.
Arias works closely with schools in the Mountain Region and made it clear that some school sites
comply with the day-to-day logistics of hosting a science fair in accordance with the
PRONAFECYT initiative; but because the school directors may not necessarily believe in their
role to support the national vision of developing the 21st-century skills of Costa Rica’s students,
they consequently do not communicate the purpose and benefits of the initiative to the school
community. Arias also discussed the need for government officials, such as the regional direc-
tors, to support leaders at the school site by helping them reach out to the school community to
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explain the benefits and importance of the PRONAFECYT. The support for these leaders would
help create buy-in for a collective vision:
We have to raise awareness in the community, in the parents, and at the meetings . . . that
maybe this new pedagogical mediation will have better results and will enable the devel-
opment of new skills, which is precisely what we want: that students think, analyze, and
find solutions to the problems formulated.
While the government and business leaders may have strong beliefs in the
PRONAFECYT, their vision has not been internalized by all school directors, thus impacting the
fidelity with which the PRONAFECYT is being implemented. In an interview with Bayside’s
School Director, it was implied that her opinion regarding the PRONAFECYT focused solely on
the actual competition, thereby dismissing the intentional long-lasting benefits in developing an
innovation-based workforce that the program aims to promote. When asked how she felt that the
PRONAFECYT benefits students, School Director Addy Lia responded that
they are going to receive the benefit of feeling very important-they feel very motivated,
taken into consideration at an institutional level, and logically they are going to partici-
pate in different stages . . . so these students are going to receive the benefit through all
the fair processes and most of the time [the school] has a participation on the national
level.
As a school site leader, she conveyed the message that participation in the PRONAFECYT is
beneficial to those who move through the various levels of science fairs because they are
competing and winning. Her vision of the PRONAFECYT focused more on competition than
process, which was not aligned with what the government and business leaders saw as the
purpose and intent behind the PRONAFECYT initiative.
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When teachers at Bayside were asked in the interviews how their students benefit from
participation in the PRONAFECYT, many responses were aligned with the national vision. The
teachers noticed that their students became more inquisitive in the classroom as a result of
participating. Janice Donyanavard discussed the change in her students’ attitudes since the
PRONAFECYT: “The students are far more dynamic in the classroom, so then they want more
than they are given—they want to go further” Ms. Donyanavard noticed that students are
intrinsically seeking out knowledge and displaying an effort to learn more than what is presented
to them. Another teacher, Kay Park, shared that her students are “more innovative, creative
researchers. This helps a lot.” Ms. Park’s comment suggested that she sees her students
displaying new behaviors in their learning. Science Fair Coordinator Shari Ramsey supported
these sentiments by stating that the PRONAFECYT
opens up a space for the mind. It opens up a space so they cannot just explore the
academic aspect but also practice—that they practice what they see. They research future
solutions for environmental issues and technological issues in this country. So then the
mere fact that they are participants in a science fair helps them understand that their
opinion and their participation is very valuable.
While the school site leader did not seem to possess the traits of a symbolic leader with
respect to the PRONAFECYT initiative, some selected teachers at Bayside did. Their inherent
belief that the skills developed throughout the scientific fair process has a positive impact on the
students was evident and was clearly communicated. There was a collective belief among the
teachers interviewed that students develop their 21st-century skillset as they participate in the
process of the PRONAFECYT.
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Observation data at Bayside indicated that the School Director’s vision for the implemen-
tation of the PRONAFECYT was not aligned with the government’s vision. In the Director’s
office, there were remnants of science fair decorations and signs that she explained were used the
prior week for the school’s science fair. She displayed the paper program that was handed out
during the science fair and also explained how parents donated many of the items that helped
decorate the auditorium for the science fair. However, there were no observable data that indi-
cated that she valued the PRONAFECYT beyond being a competition for students.
The data gathered from the surveys, interviews, and observations suggested that while the
government and business officials believed in the benefits of the PRONAFECYT, they did not
convey a sense of purpose and shared vision among school site leaders, thus possibly impacting
the level of fidelity with which school directors, such as Ms. Lia, and teachers are implementing
the PRONAFECYT initiative and how these school site leaders are conveying the message of
need and purpose to the school community. Javier Cambronero described this predicament best
when he said that “we don’t want the science and technology fair to be seen as an extracurricular
activity but as a binding, strong, and powerful element.”
Results Summary for Research Question 1
The survey, interview, and observation data analysis revealed that recognition and cele-
bration of both teachers and students is occurring at the site level but government officials and
business officials are not in agreement on how they recognize the students and teachers on a
national level. The results also indicated that although government and business officials believe
in the benefits of PRONAFECYT, the teachers at Bayside do not feel that their school director
has clearly communicated a sense of purpose and shared vision within their school community—
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a factor that may impact the level of fidelity with which Bayside is implementing the
PRONAFECYT initiative.
Results for Research Question 2
Research Question 2 asked: “How do teacher practices at successful schools differ from
teacher practices at less successful schools, as measured by participation in the Costa Rican
PRONAFECYT?”
In order to compare how teacher practices at successful schools differed from teacher
practices at less successful schools, data collected from Bayside Elementary were compared with
data collected at another school in the same region, Atlantic Elementary. While Bayside boasts
its track record with sending students to circuit and regional science fair competitions, Atlantic
Elementary is a school that has fully embraced the PRONAFECYT initiative and is deemed a
school that has successfully implemented PRONAFECYT in comparison with Bayside. For
purposes of this study, the definition of a successful school correlates with the notion of a school
that has implemented the PRONAFECYT initiative with authenticity and fidelity, aligned with
the MICITT’s (2015) mission. The mission states that all students in each grade level can
develop leadership skills along with a sense of social responsibility through the acquisition of
inquiry, analytical thinking, and research skills. In providing students in Costa Rica with these
opportunities, the national economic goals would be supported (MICITT, 2015).
Atlantic Elementary is a primary school within the Mountain Region. This school
educates approximately 680 students in Cycles I and II. A majority of the students who attend
Atlantic Elementary are considered to be of low socioeconomic status and reside in the local
semiurban area near the school. According to Atlantic’s School Director, a majority of the
students receive assistance from the government for uniforms, school-based snack and lunch, and
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 95
clothing. While the School Director was very modest, she did mention that the school had been
participating in the PRONAFECYT for at least 8 years and that in recent years some students
from this school have moved beyond the school site science fair competition to the circuit level,
regional level, and national PRONAFECYT competition.
While Atlantic Elementary has about 15 teachers, this study focused on interviews con-
ducted with five members of the school staff: the School Director and four teachers. School
Director Pamela Homes has been at the school for over 20 years. She is a humble, modest
woman who is an integral part of the school community. One teacher who was interviewed, Matt
Jones, is an English teacher who provides explicit English instruction to various classrooms
throughout the week and teaches conversational English skills to all grade levels. Another
teacher interviewed was Jamie Mintz, a first-grade teacher, who mentioned that she was once a
PRONAFECYT judge at the international level and also mentioned having a former student win
one of the national PRONAFECYT competitions. A third teacher interviewed, Sally Williams, is
a sixth grade teacher who has been at the school for many years. The final teacher interviewed
was Mary Smith, a special education teacher.
In order to compare teacher practices at the two schools, it was important to look at how
leadership affected the instructional practices at each school site. Kotter’s (1996) research on
the change process focused on how leaders of an organization successfully affect change within
an organization, such as a school, by effectively embedding the goals and aspirations of the
school within the school culture. For example, aligning instructional practices that support a
specific schoolwide vision would follow his theory on change process when implementing a new
initiative.
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According to Bolman and Deal (2008), leaders who want to effect change and ingrain the
school vision within the culture of the school must be able to embed the change, such as an
instructional practice, in every aspect of a school’s culture. One way to embed a cultural shift
throughout the school’s culture is to interweave specific teaching practices across the curriculum.
Capraro et al. (2013) felt that one critical instructional shift to support student development of
STEM-based skills necessary for participation in PRONAFECYT would be to ensure that all
students encounter a variety of opportunities to hone and develop specific 21st-century skills,
such as inquiry, throughout their instructional day. In order for students to be successful in their
future careers, ready to take on the global labor demands required of them, Capraro et al. con-
tended that teachers must infuse inquiry-based skills across the core content areas so that their
students can engage in inquiry in a variety of situations and settings. The review of literature and
analysis of the data related to Research Question 2 allowed two distinct themes to emerge: (a)
that change should be embedded in the school’s culture and (b) that effective teachers embed
inquiry skills across the core curriculum in preparation for the PRONAFECYT.
Change Embedded in the School’s Culture
Kotter’s (1996) theory on the change process involves eight essential steps for successful
implementation of change. The final step ensures that change is ingrained within the culture of
the organization—a step that became a theme in this study. To maintain momentum with the
change and have it be sustainable, Kotter implored leaders to make change visible within every
aspect of the organization. If the change is going to persist, it cannot be supported in isolation or
as one part of the organization; rather, the change should be fully immersed throughout. The data
from surveys, interviews, and observations indicated that Atlantic, a school that is considered
successful with the implementation of the PRONAFECYT, has teachers and leaders whose
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practices demonstrate that they make PRONAFECYT an important part of the school’s culture
rather than being treated as an isolated program in which students simply participate, as was
found at Bayside.
According to survey results, selected teachers and the School Director at Bayside Elemen-
tary who completed the survey believed that PRONAFECYT was an important part of their
school culture. In response to school director survey items 18, 17, and 21, the Director indicated
that (a) there was a positive school culture toward the PRONAFECYT, (b) there was a school-
wide vision for the PRONAFECYT, and (c) there was a school curriculum plan to help prepare
students for the PRONAFECYT at the school sites. The results from teacher survey items 18,
17, and 21 administered to teachers at Bayside indicated that (a) all five teachers surveyed agreed
or strongly agreed that there was a positive school culture toward the PRONAFECYT, (b) all five
teachers surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that there was a schoolwide vision for the
PRONAFECYT, and (c) all five teachers surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that there was a
school curriculum plan to help prepare students for the PRONAFECYT. Based on the survey
results, teachers and the Bayside School Director felt strongly that there was a school culture
focused on the PRONAFECYT.
According to survey results, selected teachers and the school director at Atlantic Elemen-
tary who completed the survey believed that PRONAFECYT was an important part of their
school culture. In response to school director survey items 18, 17, and 21, the school director
indicated that (a) there was a positive school culture toward the PRONAFECYT, (b) there was a
schoolwide vision for the PRONAFECYT, and (c) there was a school curriculum plan to help
prepare students for the PRONAFECYT at the school sites. The results from teacher survey
items 18, 17, and 21 taken by eight teachers at Atlantic revealed that (a) 71% of the teachers
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agreed or strongly agreed that there was a positive school culture toward the PRONAFECYT, (b)
71% of the teachers agreed or strongly agreed that there was a schoolwide vision for the
PRONAFECYT; and (c) 86% of the teachers agreed or strongly agreed that there was a school
curriculum plan to help prepare students for the PRONAFECYT. The survey results indicated
that there was a general belief system that supported the PRONAFECYT culture within Atlantic.
Teachers and Directors at both Bayside and Atlantic were interviewed to gain a more holistic
understanding of their responses to the survey questions regarding the PRONAFECYT and its
place within the school culture. The results from the interviews indicated that the school director
at Atlantic Elementary believes in the benefits of PRONAFECYT so much that she can speak to
its place within the school culture. On the other hand, Bayside Elementary has a school director
who views the PRONAFECYT as just one of many different isolated programs in which students
participate.
When the Atlantic School Director Pamela Homes was asked how the pedagogical
practices have shifted since the implementation of the PRONAFECYT, she passionately spoke
about how the initial implementation took place with having students involved in solving real-
world problems around the school and trying to make the school community a more inviting
place for the students. In her discussion of how she first began implementing elements of the
science fair at her school, Ms. Homes said that
we began to—there was a lot of mud everywhere. When it would rain there would be
mud, and during the summer, a lot of dust. We began to plant, making green areas,
planting trees, and plants. We started to give it another—but everything related to
science, with the environment, with protecting the environment. So we began to do all
these projects hand in hand. We rescued an area that was completely damaged back
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there, and it turned into where the sewer water would go. Nowadays, we have green areas
so that it can look nice, and we have three beautiful trees. We have a corteza amarillo
tree, we have two roble sabana trees, and one malinche, which blooms beautifully; the
three bloom beautifully during the summer. I think that the school changes happened
because of the science fair.
As Ms. Homes told the beautiful story about how students first became engaged in the
scientific process of finding ways to beautify the campus to make it more usable and safer for
students, it was evident that student participation in the PRONAFECYT was not just something
done because it was mandated. She claimed that students at Atlantic were learning skills beyond
the science fair. They were learning how to give back to their own community to make it a better
place for all community members. Ms. Homes’s belief in the PRONAFECYT was so strong that
teacher buy-in had increased during her tenure as director: “I don’t want to sound immodest.
When I got there, there was only one teacher that worked with the science fair—just one. Now,
thank God, all of our 26 teachers work on it.” Not only did she indicate that she inherently
believe in the benefits of the PRONAFECYT and has worked hard to make it part of the school
culture, but also her staff has followed suit, ensuring that the change is sustainable.
Interviews with teachers at Atlantic echoed the School Director’s sentiments. When
Jamie Mintz, a first-grade teacher, was asked how the PRONAFECYT has changed the school’s
curriculum, she said, “It’s not a question of being competitive or just winning a prize—it’s that
the students can move forward and through a project of science and technology and they can
become future citizens who can contribute to Costa Rica.” Ms. Mintz’s response indicated that
participation has greater benefits than simply doing a project to participate in a science fair—a
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concept that was also stressed by the School Director. The benefit comes as students learn skills
through the process of participation, and these skills are honed and developed.
Another teacher, Sally Williams, a sixth-grade teacher, shared her colleague’s feelings
when she was asked about the benefits of the PRONAFECYT. She discussed how she conveyed
the importance of the PRONAFECYT participation to her students. She said that she tells them
that
it’s not a cliché—it’s the reality. Children, the power is in the words, and the person who
controls the words has the power. Now, let’s use the power in a positive way. If you
learn to research and not just to research but to express what you have learned, you will
the most benefitted with this process, because that will transform you into people with a
good attitude, increasing your social abilities, and that will be very useful for the rest of
your lives. When you become citizens at the age of 18, it will be useful for the university;
when you have an interview to obtain a job, or when you want to keep that job, it will
always be very beneficial for you.
Ms. Williams’s sentiments suggested that she believes that participation in PRONAFECYT is
beneficial to her students because it helps them express their learning, transforms them as
individuals, and supports them in their future careers.
The teachers’ interview responses validated the School Director’s feelings on the benefits
of PRONAFECYT. The school’s leadership clearly played a large role in creating a culture that
supported student development of real-world research and critical thinking skills that extended
beyond participation in the PRONAFECYT. The culture of the school supported teachers as they
worked hard to provide students with instruction and real-life opportunities that would success-
fully prepare them for their future and not just the PRONAFECYT competition.
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The observations conducted at Atlantic indicated similar results to support the theme.
Two specific lesson observations and six classroom visits were conducted at Atlantic. During
these observations and visits, it was noted that teachers often used rhetorical questioning strate-
gies to encourage students to come up with their own answers in a variety of content areas. In a
first-grade classroom, the teacher was heard saying, “Why do you think that is the correct re-
sponse? How did you get that answer?” Rather than accepting the student’s response to a math
question, the teacher wanted the student to explain his thinking—a skill that is beneficial when
working both in the PRONAFECYT and in the real world.
Another example of how Atlantic has created a culture around the PRONAFECYT is the
school’s greenhouse project. During the visit to Atlantic, the School Director provided a tour of
a special greenhouse located on the school property. The greenhouse project was first created by
students during a project for the PRONAFECYT and has since ignited future projects and bene-
fitted the students and community at Atlantic. This greenhouse was a structure about the size of
a classroom and housed a variety of flowers, vegetables, and herbs that were used to make the
school snacks and lunches for all students. The plants within the greenhouse were cared for by
the students and staff, and many students created their projects for PRONAFECYT focused on
finding ways of reducing water use, improving the greenhouse infrastructure, and making hybrid
plants that could successfully grow within the local region. Every aspect of the greenhouse and
the garden that was directly outside of it displayed elements of student-directed projects that
came about as a means to improve something at the school.
Interviews with the School Director and teachers at Bayside suggested that the school
leader realizes the benefits of PRONAFECYT for students; however, the emphasis of the initia-
tive is placed on competition rather than the learning process and the skills that students would
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gain from participation. When School Director Addy Lia was asked how the PRONAFECYT
benefits students, she briefly touched on the idea that participation makes students feel important
and motivates them but went on to discuss how they are motivated through competition:
They are going to receive the benefit of feeling very important and they feel very
motivated. Logically they are going to participate in different stages. Now we have the
scientific fair in a circuit level and we continue to the regional level, so these students are
going to receive the benefit through all the fair process and most of the time our school
has participated on a national level. So their participation is prominent.
In her interview, Ms. Lia articulated that the benefits of the program were more related to com-
peting in the science fairs rather than developing critical research skills that benefit students in
their future careers. She also mentioned that student participation was largely dependent on the
classroom teacher rather than a schoolwide expectation and culture: “It has a lot to do with the
teacher, besides the program or the methodology. If the teacher likes and believes in the scien-
tific fair, then he is going to create interest in the student.” This response suggested that Ms. Lia
believed that the school’s vision for student participation in the PRONAFECYT was reliant on
the classroom teacher, thus indicating that the PRONAFECYT was not ingrained in her school’s
culture.
While Ms. Lia’s responses implied that the PRONAFECYT was not embedded within
the culture of the school but rather dependent on the teachers’ attitude, teachers at Bayside were
interviewed to find out their beliefs regarding the role of the PRONAFECYT within the school.
When asked about the benefits of PRONAFECYT, Shari Ramsey explained her feelings by
sharing a story about how she brought her students to see a real airplane so that students could
relate what they were learning in class to their future careers. She wanted her students to know
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that working on inquiry and investigation in school could eventually help them in their future
endeavors. In an interview, the teacher explained that
it was bringing them to the airport and doing a tour of the airport so that the students
could sit in an airplane, in a cabin with the objective, the direction that someone could say
one day, “I’m going to be here!” They were checking the airplane and the entire electric
system and so one day they can do it or they talk a lot about this, about NASA [National
Aeronautics and Space Administration], to be a part of the discoveries, the experiments.
So one day one said, “One day I’m going to get in one of these to go there when I want to
go.
Ms. Ramsey felt passionate about connecting her students’ scientific and investigative experi-
ences to their future so that they could see purpose and value in what they were learning. Ac-
cording to her statement, she valued the benefits of the PRONAFECYT despite the School Direc-
tor’s lack of a clear belief in the clear benefit of PRONAFECYT.
The English teacher at Bayside, Kay Park, was asked how her students benefit from
participation in the PRONAFECYT. Her response supported her colleague’s sentiments in that
there was a clear connection between authentic participation in PRONAFECYT and develop-
ment of necessary 21st-century skills: “They research future solutions for environmental issues,
technological issues in this country. So then the fact that they are participants in a science fair
helps them understand that their opinion and their participation is very valuable.”
A culture focused around PRONAFECYT was not present at the school level as a whole.
It was found in some classrooms, missing in others, and largely dependent on the teachers, as
previously noted by Ms. Lia’s comments. While the data indicated that some teachers’ positive
beliefs in the benefits of PRONAFECYT were infused in their teaching practices and curriculum,
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thus creating a classroom culture around PRONAFECYT, there were other teachers who did not
see value in the science program and therefore did not indicate that they provide their students
with the same opportunities as their colleagues. For example. when one of these teachers at
Bayside, Michele Berns, was asked about the benefits of the PRONAFECYT, she seemed to
struggle with articulating a clear benefit to the students who were participating. When asked how
the PRONAFECYT benefits students, she responded to the question with, “Well, in my case, last
year one of my students went to the national fair—I mean, we always try to motivate them but
she—I don’t know, as a part of—also the parents have seen that the science program has
changed.” Ms. Berns’s response indicated that she was unable to provide a clear answer to the
question regarding the benefits of the PRONAFECYT. A lack of understanding of the value
could impact how she conveyed the purpose and benefits of the PRONAFECYT to her students
and therefore hindered her involvement in supporting a schoolwide culture revolving around the
PRONAFECYT. The fact that the teachers and the Bayside School Director did not have a
shared belief or a clear focus on the benefits of the PRONAFECYT indicated that the school site
leader did not make the PRONAFECYT initiative an integral part of Bayside’s culture, as was
found at Atlantic.
Observations as Bayside provided data that indicated that the PRONAFECYT was not
embedded in the culture of the school. Six classroom observations were conducted, and there
were no data that provided evidence of the PRONAFECYT being an integral part of the school.
Contrary to the contention of Capraro et al. (2013) that classrooms that promote 21st-century
thinking skills have students talking and engaging in the learning process with one another,
teachers at Bayside were observed conducting lessons in front of the classroom while students sat
at their individual desks lined in rows, many disengaged from the lesson and off task. One
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student was seen bouncing a soccer ball in the back of the room while two other girls were
talking to each other during the teacher’s instruction. There were no 21st-century elements of
teaching found in the classrooms that were linked to the PRONAFECYT and its implementation.
Students were not working collaboratively, and the teacher was not providing any explicit
information for the students. There was no observable evidence to indicate that the
PRONAFECYT was part of Bayside’s school culture, as was observed at Atlantic Elementary.
The data from surveys, interviews, and observations indicated that Atlantic, which was
deemed more successful with the PRONAFECYT implementation, has created a schoolwide
culture around the PRONAFECYT initiative. This culture has affected teacher practices, activi-
ties, and beliefs. At Atlantic, teachers’ strategies seemed to develop students’ 21st-century skills
and their belief system around the PRONAFECYT, as was evident in the activities that they
facilitated for their students. As teachers at Atlantic continued to have the PRONAFECYT
embedded in their schoolwide focus, students were developing the 21st-century skills necessary
for the PRONAFECYT that ultimately will help support the national goals of creating an
innovation-based workforce. While the data from surveys revealed that some teachers and the
Bayside School Director feel that there is a positive culture toward the PRONAFECYT, the data
from interviews and observations indicated that the PRONAFECYT was not an integral part of
Bayside’s culture. Instead, the data indicated that there were inconsistencies among teachers’
beliefs about the benefits of the PRONAFECYT, with some teachers, including the School
Director, seeing it as a stand-alone program in which students participate annually .
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Effective Teachers Embedded Inquiry Skills Across the Core Curriculum in Preparation
for the PRONAFECYT
Kotter’s (1996) theory on maintaining change is echoed in the PRONAFECYT decree,
which was founded on the idea that science and technology should be embedded within the cur-
riculum for students to have multiple opportunities to develop their inquiry skills and to stimulate
their creative minds (MICITT, 2015). As Costa Rica intends to build a coalition of knowledge-
ready, innovative workers, the school system must ensure that all students have access to scien-
tific inquiry opportunities that will help them develop 21st-century skills and increase their
understanding of STEM content. Capraro et al. (2013) maintained that students who engage in a
sufficient number of inquiry opportunities may do so only when these opportunities are infused
across the curriculum. When students are in a contextualized, authentic learning experience,
such as STEM–PBL instructional model, they have multiple opportunities to scaffold their own
inquiry and build upon meaningful concepts that are supported by other content areas such as
social studies, language arts, and art. Surveys, interviews, and classroom observations indicated
that Atlantic was more successful in implementing the PRONAFECYT with more fidelity
because there were many teachers who embedded inquiry skills throughout the curriculum.
Bayside, on the other hand, had teachers who tended to provide more isolated opportunities for
students to develop their inquiry skills.
To compare teacher practices at successful and less successful schools, surveys were
distributed to individuals at Bayside and Atlantic. The results from the surveys at both schools
indicated that teachers believed that they provided their students with opportunities to develop
their inquiry skills. Of the teachers who answered item 5 on the teacher survey at both Bayside
and Atlantic, 100% responded that their students engaged in scientific inquiry as part of their
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regular instruction. Therefore, from the teachers’ perspective, students were provided with
opportunities to develop the necessary inquiry-based skills in the school day at both school sites.
Students at both Bayside and Atlantic were also surveyed to capture their perception of instruc-
tion in the classroom. In response to item 5 on the student survey, 96.9% of the students sur-
veyed at Bayside and 76% of students at Atlantic indicated that their teachers helped them to
develop their inquiry skills with various activities in the classroom. While a larger percentage of
the students surveyed at Bayside felt that their teachers provided varied opportunities for them to
develop their inquiry skills compared to those at Atlantic, the interview and observation data
revealed a more in-depth exploration of how and when students were involved in inquiry-based
activities.
To delve more deeply into how teacher practices differed at both Bayside and Atlantic
with respect to inquiry learning opportunities across the curriculum, the school director and
selected teachers at each school site were interviewed. The data analysis from the interviews at
Atlantic revealed that those who were interviewed believed in the importance of providing
multiple opportunities for students to develop their inquiry skills and felt that one way to do this
was to embed those experiences in a variety of content areas. When asked how instruction has
changed since the PRONAFECYT implementation, Ms. Williams explained the importance of
incorporating inquiry opportunities in all classroom activities. She responded that she felt that
inquiry should be included in the classwork:
When we plan the classes, we have to reflect that we are working for the science fair. We
have to include it in the plans, and it’s something that we have included in each one of the
classes. It is something that is included in the investigation classes and not just for the
scientific fair. Last year I worked in two projects with my students. One was a simple
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research, based on school situations, so for example, they investigated why students like
to write the walls in the bathroom. We also worked on strategies that teachers could use
to make the classes more pleasant. Then we carried out another project that is the one
they presented in the scientific fair. So this is not just done to participate in the fair; there
is a constant research process in every class. In fact, the curriculums have changed quite
a lot, and they are very focused on having investigation processes in every class.
Ms. Williams’ response indicated that inquiry-based instructional strategies are not only used in
preparation for PRONAFECYT but are embedded throughout other content areas as well, thus
allowing more opportunities for students to develop and hone this critical 21st-century thinking
skill.
Another teacher, Jamie Mintz, responded to the same question with a supporting
response. She discussed how the teachers at Atlantic have moved toward an inquiry-based model
of instruction that is present throughout the curriculum:
Two years ago, the science area, which is the one that is more involved in the
PRONAFECYT, has modified its curriculum introducing the inquiry-based model. So
that has been very favorable for us, but at the same time other programs have changed and
it helps in the correlation with the other areas, such as Spanish, social sciences, math, and
it encourages the students to learn, to research more, to know more.
Ms. Mintz’s comments indicated that there has been a clear shift for teachers in how they instruct
their students using the inquiry-based model, but she also indicated that she has seen how this
model has helped students develop critical 21st-century skills in other content areas. These
teachers’ responses indicated that the staff at Atlantic values the inquiry-based model and has
made a concerted effort to interweave opportunities for students to develop inquiry skills
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throughout the curriculum rather than limiting them to preparation for the PRONAFECYT.
Teachers demonstrated a strong belief in the benefits for students to engage in the process of
inquiry in multiple subject areas.
The data analysis from the interviews at Bayside painted a different picture with respect
to how teachers were supporting their students’ development of inquiry skills. The data revealed
that teachers did provide opportunities for inquiry learning; however, these activities seemed
limited to the preparation for the PRONAFECYT and were not embedded throughout the curric-
ulum. When the School Director, Ms. Lia, was asked a question about the challenges that have
surfaced with the PRONAFECYT implementation, she responded that the students and teachers
did not have enough time to fully engage in scientific inquiry:
We don’t have enough time in our educational system. Teachers need to do a lot of
things. I mean, this is one part in regard to science, but they have to participate in other
activities, so there is no additional time. We can’t just not pay attention to the rest of the
students in order to just work with these projects.
Ms. Lia’s response suggested that students’ preparation for the PRONAFECYT was an isolated
activity that required additional time and was not embedded into the daily curriculum, as was the
case at Atlantic. She mentioned that this additional time spent on preparing students and work-
ing with them was taxing on teachers because it took their effort and energy away from the other
things that they had planned for their students.
The teachers’ responses to the interview questions corroborated what Ms. Lia had dis-
cussed. When asked which teacher practices were utilized to prepare their students for the
PRONAFECYT, Ms. Donyanavard responded that she encouraged her students to see the process
of investigation: “We work with the students in the classrooms, motivating them and teaching
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them the possibilities of how they can realize this whole process.” Another teacher, Ms. Ramsey,
discussed how her pedagogy had changed since the implementation of PRONAFECYT:
We had to change the entire process because of the new method—the inquiry method.
That is where it benefits the student, from the moment that the teacher is not the authority.
The student is the one that, through previous knowledge, starts to research and after that
the teacher is just a guide, a facilitator. He is not authoritarian. The student is the one
that investigates.
Ms. Ramsey described the inquiry process that students at Bayside experienced to develop the
21st- century skills needed for the PRONAFECYT and beyond; however, she did not mention
how these inquiry skills were developed in other curricular areas beyond preparation for the
science fair. Ms. Park had a similar response to the same question about shifts in her pedagogical
practices. Her answer focused on the instruction with the competition itself rather than utilizing
inquiry skills across the curriculum:
Now participation is more open. The one who wants to participate can investigate,
research. So then the study program, it has changed because the inquiry method that is
used in Costa Rica allows that. That the children promote research that they participate in
the investigation.
Ms. Park’s response indicated that inquiry skills such as investigation and research are linked to
participation in PRONAFECYT and not necessarily utilized or developed in other curricular
areas outside of PRONAFECYT participation.
Because many government officials and business leaders have a hand in supporting
schools in their implementation of PRONAFECYT, some were surveyed in order to uncover
their beliefs on how schools should support the development of inquiry skills. Interview data
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revealed that individuals in the government and business worlds believe that inquiry skills should
be embedded throughout the curriculum in order for the PRONAFECYT to truly be a beneficial
vehicle in developing the 21st-century skillset of Costa Rican students. Mary Helen Bialas, a
senior program manager for the Council for Promotion of Competitiveness, discussed the need
for teachers to rethink where science and inquiry projects belong. She felt that teachers should
“not only look at doing scientific methodology but taking that project that the student is doing out
of the science class and making it an integrated research project through all the classroom
courses. You could integrate it.” Her response indicated that teachers must look beyond the
science curriculum to teach inquiry skills. She suggested that students should have integrated
projects in which they can incorporate multiple content areas.
Patricia Arias, the regional science advisor for the Mountain Region, agreed with these
sentiments. She discussed how the initiative has a clear plan for when and how inquiry-based
lessons will eventually be taught across the curriculum. She noted that
first the inquiry-based process was for science. Then it was for math which covered
solving problems which was implemented both in primary and secondary schools so that
the mediation in the classroom could be more versatile and focused on problems
formulations so that the students could find a solution first by themselves and later in
groups with the tools and mechanisms provided. One year ago there was another change
in the curriculum of social studies and this year we changed the Spanish curriculum.
While Ms. Arias detailed a specific roadmap for when teachers would be asked to infuse inquiry
skills throughout their daily curriculum, she cautioned that teachers are currently struggling to
come to terms with this new type of embedded instruction: “The students like these changes, but
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it has been very hard for the teachers of the first, second, third, and fourth cycles because we
were very used to the old style of master classes.”
The struggle that Ms. Arias discussed was observed at Bayside. Observations at Bayside
indicated that teachers were having a difficult time making the shift from teaching inquiry
lessons in science class to teaching inquiry across the curriculum as part of the instructional
sequence. In three of the six classrooms observed, teachers were standing in front of the black-
board while instructing during a math lesson, Spanish lesson, and science lesson. In another
science class, there was no teacher present and students were sitting in a group sharing their
interactive notebook illustrations and writing with their peers. There was no evidence of true
inquiry skills being developed in other content area classrooms, including math or science.
The observations conducted at Atlantic were very different and supported the theme that
schools that are successful with the PRONAFECYT implementation have developed inquiry
skills throughout the core curriculum. In an English class, students were observed working in
partners to come up with the English word to match the Spanish word. The students had to use
pictures and work collaboratively to inquire about and identify the correlated word. In a first-
grade classroom where all subjects are taught, there was evidence of group projects along the
walls—all on various real-world topics. This evidence suggested that students worked together
to inquire about a new topic and reported on that topic to their peers.
The survey, interview, and observation data indicated that teachers at Atlantic were
utilizing inquiry-based activities throughout the core curriculum. They made a deliberate point to
provide their students with multiple opportunities to develop these skills in a variety of content
areas. The data also indicated that while teachers at Bayside believed that they were embedding
inquiry skills throughout their curriculum, the reality was that these skills were limited to
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preparing students for their participation in the PRONAFECYT and did not extend into other
content areas.
Results Summary for Research Question 2
The analysis for Research Question 2 included reviewing data from surveys, interviews,
and observations. The data revealed that leadership at Atlantic has worked hard to build a school
culture around the PRONAFECYT. Evidence of the school director’s leadership was reflected in
teachers’ practices and student activities. Based on data analysis from the surveys, interviews,
and observations, students at Atlantic were far more exposed to critical thinking and real-world
learning compared to their peers at Bayside. The data indicated that there were deliberate
attempts by the staff at Atlantic to embrace the skills needed for PRONAFECYT and to help
students see the relevance in their everyday lives. The data also indicated that teachers at Atlan-
tic made a conscious effort to embed the development of inquiry skills across their core curricu-
lum to prepare their students for the PRONAFECYT and beyond—a process is aligned with the
MICITT’s (2015) mission for the PRONAFECYT initiative.
On the contrary, leadership at Bayside tended to focus on PRONAFECYT as an isolated
program set apart from the students’ everyday learning. This situation was evident in the sage-
on-the-stage teaching practices that were observed. The interview and observation data also
revealed that teachers at Bayside utilized inquiry-based activities only with respect to preparation
for the PRONAFECYT and did not extend these opportunities into the core content areas.
Results for Research Question 3
Research Question 3 asked: “How have site and system leaders prepared their schools to
equip students with the 21st-century skills (soft skills) necessary to participate in the Costa Rican
PRONAFECYT?”
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Friedman (2007) argued that countries have to put a great amount of resources and
sustained effort toward creating a program for science and engineering education that will
support efforts to create an innovative workforce leading to a competitive edge in the global
marketplace. In order to develop the process to which Friedman referred, students must be
presented with the appropriate content and context in their K–12 education and beyond. Capraro
et al. (2013) and Wagner (2008, 2012) felt that if students exhibit 21st-century skills upon
entering the workforce, they would be prepared to meet the challenges and demands of the new
global economy. Capraro et al. and Wagner (2012) contended that teachers must explicitly teach
and help students to develop the essential survival skills that encompass 21st-century skills: (a)
critical thinking and problem solving, (b) collaboration across networks and leading by influence,
(b) agility and adaptability, (d) initiative and entrepreneurship, (e) effective oral and written
communication, (f) accessing and analyzing information, and (g) curiosity and imagination. Two
of these survival skills emerged as themes from the analysis of data related to Research Question
3: (a) that critical thinking and problem-solving skills are developed through participation in the
PRONAFECYT and (b) that curiosity and imagination are encouraged and valued.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills Developed Through PRONAFECYT
Participation
According to Clifton (2011), the job market now requires people to have essential skills
that help them collaborate with others to tackle various situations within a limited time frame.
The people who have the ability to think critically and possess a deepened understanding of
problem solving will know when and how to ask the right questions that will lead them to
creative solutions (Wagner, 2008). As Costa Rica’s educational system is supporting efforts
toward enhancing the country’s human capital, changes are being made to ensure that the
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students have every opportunity to develop essential critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Surveys, interviews, and observations indicated that the implementation of the PRONAFECYT
has impacted teachers in that they are now placing an emphasis on developing their students’
21st-century skills, specifically critical thinking and problem solving.
When the Bayside School Director and selected teachers were surveyed, their responses
suggested a belief that 21st-century skills were being enhanced and developed through their work
in preparing for the PRONAFECYT. In response to item 11 on the school director survey (“Stu-
dents develop soft skills through their participation in PRONAFECYT”), the Director indicated
that she believes that students develop 21st-century skills, or soft skills, through their participa-
tion in the PRONAFECYT. Most of the teachers surveyed at Bayside indicated that they have
believed in the development of 21st-century skills since the inception of the PRONAFECYT.
Three out of five teachers strongly agreed that their students were developing their 21st-century
skills through their participation in the PRONAFECYT. Many students who were surveyed
supported the teachers’ beliefs that PRONAFECYT has provided an opportunity for them to
develop key 21st-century skills to prepare them for the local, regional, and national science fairs.
Fifty-six out of 64 students who responded to item 11 on the student survey agreed or strongly
agreed that they could improve their 21st-century skills when they do projects for the
PRONAFECYT. The perspectives of the school leader, teachers, and students implied that the
implementation of the PRONAFECYT has placed some emphasis on developing 21st-century
skills in the classroom.
Interview data were analyzed to discover the various ways in which students were
exposed to and engaged in 21st-century skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving.
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Interview data with the Mountain Regional Director, the School Director, and teachers at Bayside
focused on how the instructional emphasis has changed since the PRONAFECYT decree was
enacted and implemented at the school site. The data suggested that school leaders and teachers
placed a focus on critical thinking and problem solving. When Patricia Arias, the Mountain
Regional Science Advisor, was asked about the government’s vision for the integration of STEM
in the curriculum of the schools in Costa Rica, she described the current shifts that have taken
place with regard to instructional approaches. Her response explained the changes that she has
seen occurring at the primary and secondary school levels, specifically with a new emphasis on
critical thinking and problem solving:
One year ago there was another change in the curriculum of social studies, and this year
we changed the Spanish curriculum. These new changes are focused on having execution
workshops, allowing the students to be more creative, finding answers and solutions by
themselves to the different situations formulated to them, and participating in the self-
regulation of the learning processes. We are interested in that, because how are we going
to accomplish a significant learning if they don’t learn to self-regulate their learning styles
and the time needed to learn? So, we want them to become self-regulators of their own
learning process.
Ms. Arias is a government employee whose role is to oversee the instructional shifts at the site
level. In this personal interview, she explained how the government’s vision for implementation
of the PRONAFECYT requires students to engage in critical thinking and solving problems not
only in science but in math as well. This sentiment was affirmed in a personal interview with the
Bayside School Director, Ms. Lia. In response to a question that focused on her vision for
growth for the school, Ms. Lia replied that
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students have to participate in the decision-making process, on the part of the scientific
method, working and taking into consideration all those aspects that are interesting for
them. So they are not only receiving information but also they have to be more critical.
Ms. Lia’s vision for growth was aligned with the Regional Director’s vision. She felt that the
PRONAFECYT implementation should shift student learning from a more passive role to
students actively engaging in the decision-making process and becoming critical thinkers and
questioning the information that they are given.
Five teachers at Bayside were also interviewed as a means to widen the lens in terms of
instructional shifts that have occurred since the implementation of the PRONAFECYT. When
Shari Ramsey was asked to describe how the curricular pedagogy has changed to adapt itself for
the PRONAFECYT, she discussed how students have become empowered to solve real-world
problems:
It opens up a space so they cannot just explore the academic aspect but also practice—that
they practice what they see, that they research future solutions for environmental issues,
technological issues in this country. So then the mere fact that they are participants in a
science fair helps them understand that their opinion and their participation is very
valuable.
Ms. Ramsey’s response supported Ms. Lia’s vision of students becoming valuable, active
participants in their own learning, engaged in solving problems. She believed that the
PRONAFECYT has encouraged students at Bayside to conduct research that will allow them to
solve real problems that are present in their own communities. This response was confirmed by
another teacher, Janice Donyanavard, who noted that since the PRONAFECYT initiative, “there
has been a lot of innovation. It’s never the same experiments and repetitive ones. A lot of
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innovation, creativity, more research. They are researching. They are researching a lot more, and
I see that they are more motivated.” She recognized that students were inquiring and solving
problems through more and more research projects since the school began implementing the
PRONAFECYT.
The results from the survey and interview data analysis indicated that teachers and the
Bayside School Director believed that there has been a shift toward an instructional focus on
developing students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills since the inception of the
PRONAFECYT. The data suggested that classroom teachers believed that they provide more
opportunities for students to be leaders in the learning process, thereby enhancing their ability to
look at new information with a critical eye and question the world around them.
The teachers’ perceptions were not observed in the classroom activities. In the six
classroom observations that were conducted, there was little evidence to suggest that teachers
utilized critical thinking strategies and problem-solving scenarios as instructional tools. One
teacher was observed asking a student to explain the thinking behind his solution to a math story
problem. However, the student did not respond to the teacher’s questioning, and the teacher
quickly moved on to another student. This teacher did not provide an opportunity for critical
thinking or problem solving in a way that was expected based on the interview data. In a science
classroom, students were observed sitting in small groups sharing their illustrations and notes on
photosynthesis in their interactive science notebooks, but the information seemed to come from a
science textbook instead of being written in their own words. While students were seated in
collaborative groups, there was no evidence of opportunities for students to think critically or
engage in problem solving together. While the teachers at Bayside genuinely felt that they were
providing opportunities for students to develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills
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since the PRONAFECYT initiative was implemented at their school, their belief system was not
observed as being carried over into their teaching practices.
Curiosity and Imagination Should Be Encouraged and Valued
Curiosity and imagination are driving the global economy. If countries want to be
competitive, they must find ways to infuse opportunities for students in the educational system to
develop and hone their creative skills starting at a young age through curiosity and imagination
(Wagner, 2012). As Costa Rica is pushing to have a competitive edge in the global marketplace,
the country must develop a creative and innovative workforce with the talent and skills necessary
to move the country forward (Friedman, 2007; Wagner, 2008, 2012). According to Wagner
(2012), school systems within these countries must take steps to encourage and support students
in their creative endeavors and provide opportunities for them to develop unique solutions to
real-world problems by stimulating their curiosity and imagination. Classroom teachers, school
directors, and system leaders must work together to urge Costa Rica’s students to take risks,
make mistakes, improve upon the old, or develop something new and market it in such a way that
others are grabbing for it. Nurturing this curiosity and imagination was a theme present within
this study.
Data from surveys and interviews indicated that Costa Rica’s system leaders inherently
believe that students’ curiosity and imagination should be nurtured, encouraged, and valued in
order to create an innovative workforce ready to take on the demands of the global marketplace.
When government officials were surveyed regarding their stance on the importance of 21st-
century skills, including curiosity and imagination, 100% indicated that they believed that school
directors discussed the importance of these skills and their impact on student achievement. Of
the government officials who responded to government survey item 11, 85.7% indicated that they
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felt that students develop soft skills, such as curiosity and imagination, through their participation
in the PRONAFECYT.
Surveys were administered to the Bayside teachers and School Director to identify
whether they shared this belief in the importance of 21st-century skills and their impact on
student achievement with respect to the PRONAFECYT. The data from the surveys indicated
that the School Director felt that she communicates the importance of soft skills and their impact
on student achievement with her teachers and also felt strongly that students develop skills such
as curiosity and imagination through their participation in the PRONAFECYT. The teachers’
beliefs were aligned with the School Director’s response. In response to teacher survey item 11,
five out of five teachers at Bayside indicated that their school director communicates the impor-
tance of skills such as curiosity and imagination and the impact on student achievement; three out
of five teachers felt that these skills are developed through student participation in the
PRONAFECYT.
Interviews with government officials indicated that system leaders such as congressmen,
MICITT directors, and regional science advisors believed in the value of nurturing and encourag-
ing students’ curiosity and imagination as a means to develop the necessary skillset to create an
innovative workforce. When Javier Cambronero, a congressman and former president of the
Education, Science, and Technology Commission, first introduced himself in a personal inter-
view, he provided a detailed monologue briefly describing Costa Rica’s history and its purpose
for implementing the PRONAFECYT as a means to increase the skills of the country’s future
workforce. He discussed the importance of providing opportunities for students to be curious
and inquire about the world around them. He said that the PRONAFECYT was developed “in
order for students to have the chance to continue in that line of curiosity and observation
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encouraged by processes linked to scientific and technological fairs.” Carolina Vasquez Soto,
Vice Minister of MICITT, reiterated this statement. When she was asked which skills she
thought that schools should encourage to prepare students for the PRONAFECYT, she stated that
“it is important to base your training in curiosity and research, additional topics, and ask ques-
tions.” Ms. Vasquez Soto described the need for teachers to be curious themselves in order to
nurture curiosity within their students.
Natalie Valencia, PRONAFECYT Coordinator, affirmed her MICITT colleague’s beliefs
regarding the importance of developing skills such as curiosity and imagination. In a personal
interview, Ms. Valencia noted that PRONAFECYT provides an opportunity for students to be
curious and to communicate that curiosity to others in a creative manner:
Regarding students, there are many skills, not only in the scientific and technological field
but also the development of scientific thinking, creativity, communication, the compre-
hensive development. . . . In my experience with students in the fair process, I think that
the most valuable thing was not the competition itself but it was to see a student with
special education needs motivated by a subject, how he committed himself, and how he
managed to communicate with other people to make a presentation of what he had
learned.
Ms. Valencia’s response indicated that students develop curiosity through their participation in
the PRONAFECYT. The program itself helps them nurture and focus their curiosity and
provides a platform where they can be imaginative in showcasing what they learned through the
process.
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Patricia Arias, the Mountain Regional Science Advisor, who described curiosity and
creativity as skills that should be further developed and enhanced, supported this finding in a
personal interview. She stated that
the child has the natural capacity to surprise himself, and as I said, when they are part of a
system that is so square, that capacity is lost. We want the children to keep on surprising
themselves, that they develop creativity, looking for mediation mechanisms that enable us
to develop investigation skills, and not to feel scared.
She stressed the need for teachers to provide their students with opportunities to entertain their
curiosity by taking bold risks.
While there was a shared belief system in place among system leaders regarding the need
to incite curiosity and imagination within students, this belief system was not always shared by
all school leaders. Interviews with selected staff at Bayside revealed that School Director Addy
Lia felt that the school motivated students with respect to their PRONAFECYT projects but not
in a way that helped students to broaden their curiosity and imagination skillset. When Ms. Lia
was asked about the benefits of PRONAFECYT, she responded that students “are going to
receive the benefit of feeling very important; they feel motivated . . . that they are going to par-
ticipate in different stages.” She reiterated that the teachers utilized motivation as a tool to ignite
interest and curiosity to participate, but there was no indication that she believed that teachers
developed a sense of curiosity in their students beyond the PRONAFECYT. When asked about
how pedagogy has changed since the implementation of the PRONAFECYT, while she re-
sponded that she felt that students are more exposed to a classroom where they “learn by doing.”
Ms. Lia did not expand on this concept outside of the PRONAFECYT initiative.
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The Bayside teachers’ interview responses indicated a divide in their belief system. For
example, when Michele Berns was asked which teaching methods she used to prepare her
students for the PRONAFECYT, she discussed the need to prepare students with the skills
necessary to complete the science fair project rather than develop skills that could be used
throughout their school and future careers:
We have motivational workshops, motivational moments where we present to them other
projects—we discuss some national issues with the environment and what we could do.
We ask them questions so they can investigate. From there we let them choose whichever
project they would like to present to the other groups. We generally ask them to choose
projects that are beneficial for the community or for the country. That they are not
projects that lack use, but that are useful, useful projects.
Ms. Berns’s vague response to the question suggested that inciting curiosity in students and
nurturing their imagination was something that was limited to preparation for the
PRONAFECYT.
On the other hand, Shari Ramsey believed that the PRONAFECYT encourages students
to be curious and felt that nurturing that curiosity made them feel connected and valued. In a
personal interview, she indicated that the PRONAFECYT
opens up a space for the mind. It opens up a space so they cannot just explore the
academic aspect but also practice—that they practice what they see. That they research
future solutions for environmental issues, technological issues in this country. So then
the mere fact that they are participants in a science fair helps them understand that their
opinion and their participation is very valuable.
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Her response suggested that students want to inquire and participate in PRONAFECYT because
the things about which they are curious can become solutions for others in the future. Ms.
Ramsey indicated that students feel important because their projects can have value in their
surrounding community.
Observations were conducted at Bayside to see whether and how curiosity and imagina-
tion skills were being nurtured and developed. When the observations occurred, the school site
science fair in compliance with the PRONAFECYT had taken place the week before. As prepa-
ration for the PRONAFECYT was completed for the year, there was no evidence to suggest that
teachers used strategies to develop students’ curiosity and imagination. There were no original
projects displayed on the boards or on classroom walls to indicate that students had opportunities
to show their imaginative skills. In the six classrooms that were observed, teachers were instruct-
ing from the front of the classroom while students sat in traditional rows, many slumped down in
their seats and not focused on the lesson in front. The observational data reflected that despite
the fact that system leaders valued curiosity and imagination as critical skills that Costa Rican
students should possess, the Bayside School Director and many of the teachers did not display
evidence of encouraging and nurturing these skills as part of their normal classroom practice.
Results Summary for Research Question 3
The results of analyzing survey, interview, and observation data indicated that the teach-
ers at Bayside sincerely felt that they have been helping their students to develop essential critical
thinking and problem-solving skills since the school began implementing the PRONAFECYT
initiative. However, their belief system was not observed in their teaching practices. Teachers
have not yet made the shift from mindset to daily habit and action. The results also indicated that
Costa Rica’s government leaders felt strongly that curiosity and imagination are skills that must
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be honed and encouraged in order for the country to have a base of innovative workers who are
prepared to take on the job demands of the global marketplace. However, these beliefs were not
fully shared by Bayside’s School Director and the five teachers who were interviewed. While
there were some teachers at the site who felt that the PRONAFECYT has provided a forum to
nurture and encourage curiosity and imagination so that students can internalize them as part of
their personal toolbox, the School Director and other teachers saw motivating students and
encouraging their curiosity as limited to PRONAFECYT preparation.
Results for Research Question 4
Research Question 4 asked: “How has participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT
affected instructional practices?”
CINDE (2013a) confirmed that Costa Rica’s public schools are making drastic curricular
changes as they increase their implementation of the PRONAFECYT decree in an effort to
produce a knowledge-driven workforce of creative innovators and entrepreneurs who possess the
21st-century skills necessary to be self-reliant in the global economy. One key element to
successful implementation is providing instruction for students focused on acquiring and devel-
oping the necessary 21st-century skills, or soft skills. The STEM–PBL framework of Capraro et
al. (2013) is an appropriate instructional model that includes specific components to support
instructional practices for the PRONAFECYT implementation and promoting 21st-century com-
petencies whereby students can problem solve, think critically, collaborate, communicate, and
utilize their creativity, curiosity, and innovative skills in a variety of ways. There are eight
essential elements within the STEM–PBL model. Two of these elements presented themselves as
themes in this study: (a) 21st-century skills emphasized in the classroom and (b) inquiry-based
activities used to engage students in the classroom.
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Twenty-First-Century Skills Emphasized by School Leaders
The enactment of the PRONAFECYT decree was intended to provide Costa Rican
students with inquiry- and research-related experiences connected to everyday problems in their
schools, family, and communities (MICITT, 2015). As students become involved in these expe-
riences, they internalize many 21st-century skills that prepare them for employment within the
global workforce. Capraro et al. (2013) concluded that STEM PBL is one teaching method in
which students can engage in a multitude of opportunities to gain knowledge and develop 21st-
century skills by investigating and responding to real-world questions, problems, or challenges
over an extended period of time. STEM–PBL classrooms offer students a specialized learning
experience whereby students scaffold their own inquiries and build upon meaningful STEM
concepts that are supported by other content areas such as social studies, language arts, and art
(Capraro & Slough, 2013). One of the key elements of STEM PBL focuses on teaching 21st-
century skills through real-world experiences and connections. Data extracted from the surveys,
interviews, and observations indicated that since the implementation of the PRONAFECYT
decree, teachers at Bayside believed that they were teaching some of the 21st-century skills.
Teachers, school directors, regional PRONAFECYT directors, and government officials
all play a vital role in supporting teachers’ efforts to develop students’ 21st-century skills.
Surveys given to selected government officials revealed that they believe students are developing
their 21st-century skills through their PRONAFECYT participation and that training was avail-
able for teachers to integrate these skills within their instructional practices. Of the government
officials who responded to government survey items 10, 11, and 12, (a) 100% agreed or strongly
agreed that school leaders saw the importance of 21st-century skills and their impact on student
achievement; (b) 86% strongly agreed that students develop 21st-century skills through their
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participation in PRONAFECYT; and (c) 83% agreed or strongly agreed that teachers received
training on how to integrate 21st-century skills in their classrooms. These data points signified
that from a government perspective, there are systems in place to support schools in developing
students’ 21st-century skills within the classroom.
Surveys given to the Bayside School Director and selected teachers supported the govern-
ment’s perspective on the development of 21st-century skills in the classroom since the
PRONAFECYT initiative was enacted. In response to school director items 10, 11, and 12, the
Director at Bayside (a) agreed that she communicated the importance of 21st-century skills and
their impact on student achievement, (b) strongly agreed that students developed 21st-century
skills through their participation in PRONAFECYT, and (c) agreed that she received training on
how to integrate 21st-century skills within the classroom. Of the five teachers who completed
teacher survey items 10, 11, and 12, (a) 100% agreed or strongly agreed that the School Director
communicates the importance of 21st-century skills and their impact on student achievement; (b)
60% strongly agreed that students develop 21st-century skills through their participation in
PRONAFECYT; and (c) 100% agreed or strongly agreed that they received training on how to
integrate 21st-century skills within the classroom. These data points signified that school leaders
at Bayside felt that there are systems in place to support students in developing 21st-century
skills within the classroom.
While the survey results suggested that there may be systems in place to support the
development of 21st-century skills in the classroom, interviews conducted with Bayside’s School
Director, Addy Lia, and selected teachers provided more detail with respect to teachers’ new
emphasis on 21st-century skills since the implementation of the PRONAFECYT. Interviews
with Ms. Lia indicated that she believed that teachers were developing 21st-century skills in their
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classrooms as a result of the enactment of the PRONAFECYT initiative. When she was asked
which changes in pedagogy have occurred since the school has implemented the PRONAFECYT
initiative, Ms. Lia answered that
scientific fairs promote a critical nature in the students, so students go to the university or
college with a better sense of what is the purpose of their participations. They analyze
and learn to be more critical-for example, the exhibition phase is something very benefi-
cial for them. It wasn’t the same when we were in school because we didn’t have the
opportunity to talk. It was an education focused on receiving information and nothing
else, so nowadays the kid has the opportunity to take advantage of the scientific method
and put it into practice and take advantage of it.
Ms. Lia’s response indicated that she believed that teachers are now encouraging critical thinking
and asking students to analyze new information and put their scientific process skills into prac-
tice.
Some teachers who were interviewed shared this belief regarding their own implementa-
tion of developing 21st-century skills in the classroom. When asked what instructional changes
have occurred since PRONAFECYT was implemented, Shari Ramsey responded that
it’s not like before that everything was from the book—now the teachers have to research
and have to be more updated with the current teaching method. Aside from that, there are
also technological methods that are helping us in the classroom like video games, com-
puters, Internet access that sometimes we need to work; and since the children have that
access, then we research about that. We bring them here to the library, we work in a
much more dynamic manner now.
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Ms. Ramsey discussed how she changed her teaching practices to facilitate the development of
21st-century competencies required in the preparation for the PRONAFECYT. Janice Donyana-
vard supported this statement when she explained the instructional strategies utilized in her
classroom as a result of the PRONAFECYT. She said that she used real-world scenarios to
enhance and develop students’ 21st-century skills. She found ways to engage students in the
world around them to heighten their 21st-century competencies. When she was asked about
which teaching practices she has utilized since the implementation of the PRONAFECYT, she
talked about a specific time when she brought in an actual scientist to make the connection
between what students were learning in class and the real world and future career options. She
described how one student was motivated to investigate something meaningful to him because of
this presentation:
Scientist Sandra Kauffman was there who works for NASA . . . with the satellites. She
works with satellites in NASA, and we brought her here. So she came to give a chat. She
is Costa Rican, and she gave a chat to the student, and we have a type of students that has
Asperger’s. So they love all the things about in the world, the planets, experiments, and
this student told me—it was last year—I still have him. When he saw her, it motivated
him so much, and now he won in the fair. Why? Because he went about doing it, discov-
ering and seeing further ahead to the boundaries, and this motivates them all.
This comment exemplified the fact that Ms. Donyanavard felt that students at Bayside were being
provided with opportunities not only to engage in 21st-century skills but also to develop a vision
for how to apply them in the future. Thus, the analysis of interview data indicated that both the
School Director and teachers were placing a newfound emphasis on developing the students’
21st-century competencies.
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Observations at Bayside were conducted to see whether teachers’ beliefs about their
instructional practices regarding 21st-century competencies were visible in their teaching
practices in the classroom. While there was a genuine belief system that the PRONAFECYT
implementation has increased the development of 21st-century competencies at Bayside, the
observation data did not support this opinion. The classroom teachers were often seen teaching
in front of the classroom, with little interaction and engagement with the students. Teachers in
three classrooms used a lecture approach to instruct and did not provide opportunities for the
students to engage with one another. While there was one science classroom that did have
students seated in a group setting, their assignment was simply to read to their group members
the information that they wrote down in their interactive science notebook regarding the defini-
tion of photosynthesis. The researchers did not observe opportunities for students to think
critically, collaborate, or problem solve in this activity. In summary, the observational data
revealed that teachers at Bayside believed that they were teaching 21st-century skills; however,
these beliefs were not observed as shifting into action.
Teachers’ Use of Inquiry-Based Activities in Their Instruction
Capraro et al. (2013) defined the STEM–PBL instructional approach as providing stu-
dents with a multitude of inquiry tasks with clearly defined outcomes. They contended that
students in STEM–PBL classrooms are met with STEM-based tasks that call for them to use
various 21st-century competencies to find solutions. Through the process of inquiry and problem
solving, students develop the skills that they need to work collaboratively in college and in the
future at high-technology companies.
A main component of the STEM–PBL classroom instructional model revolves around
student inquiry. Capraro et al. (2013) found that in-depth inquiry occurs when students are
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engaged in an extended, rigorous process of asking questions, using resources, and developing
answers. According to Natalie Valencia, PRONAFECYT Coordinator, “we can’t continue to
teach science from the blackboard. To teach science, you have to do it practically, and investiga-
tion is a key component to accomplish this.” Data from surveys, interviews, and observations
revealed that teachers had shifted their instructional approach toward inquiry-based learning as a
result of the PRONAFECYT initiative.
Survey results indicated that the Bayside School Director and teachers felt that students
had opportunities to engage in scientific inquiry through STEM–PBL instruction. When re-
sponding to teacher survey item 5 (“I provide opportunities for students to engage in scientific
inquiry as part of my regular instruction”), five out of five teachers indicated that inquiry-based
learning was utilized throughout their instruction. Of the responses to teacher survey item 6 (“I
utilize project-based learning in my teaching”), four out of the five teachers indicated that they
used the PBL model as an instructional practice. The School Director shared her teachers’
sentiments with respect to inquiry learning opportunities for students and the PBL instructional
model. In her response to school director survey items 5 and 6, she indicated that she (a) strongly
agreed that teachers provided opportunities for students to engage in scientific inquiry as part of
their regular instruction and (b) agreed that teachers utilized PBL in their teaching.
Interviews conducted during the study reflected that teachers and the Director at Bayside
believed that there has been a current shift to provide more inquiry-based opportunities for their
students since the implementation of the PRONAFECYT. Patricia Arias, the Regional Science
Advisor for Bayside, explained this shift. In a personal interview, she noted that there was a
struggle to shift over to inquiry-based teaching in the early implementation stages of the
PRONAFECYT:
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So the first steps took place in the year 2008 or 2009 in the science sphere when they
modified the pedagogical mediation towards an inquiry-based process with the intention
that from the early stages of primary school, children learn to be more creative, where
they can solve a problem with the corresponding tools. That was the first change that
took place.
Ms. Arias confirmed the initial struggle that occurred at the onset of implementation.
When Bayside School Director Addy Lia was asked to describe some of the changes that
have occurred in the area of curriculum and pedagogy since PRONAFECYT was implemented at
the school site, she explained her observations on how student learning has changed: “The new
scientific programs, the scientific intervention helps the student to prepare himself/herself
because these new programs are focused on the scientific method and promote this type of
education.” She went on to say that “the different stages of investigation encourage our students
to participate.” Ms. Lia mentioned how she has seen a change in how students are interacting
with new learning concepts and curriculum and believed that students have more opportunities to
inquire and ask questions as opposed to just being told answers, as was the case in the past.
Teacher interviews at the school site indicated that teachers utilized inquiry-based meth-
ods in their classrooms since the implementation of the PRONAFECYT. One of the teachers,
Ms. Park, mentioned that instructional practices have changed to adapt to the PRONAFECYT:
Now participation is more open—the ones who want to participate can investigate and
research. So the study program has changed because the inquiry method that is used in
Costa Rica allows that. The children promote research that they participate in the investi-
gation.
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Another teacher, Ms. Ramsey, discussed how she noticed a huge shift since the PRONAFECYT
was initiated:
Well, since I have been teaching science for many years, for me it has been a radical
change because we have had to change the entire process because of the new method, the
inquiry method. That is where it benefits the student, from the moment that the teacher is
not teaching all of the subjects. The teacher is not the authority. In my class, the student
is the one that through previous knowledge starts to research, and after that the teacher is
just a guide, a facilitator—he is not an authoritarian. The student is the one that investi-
gates.
This discussion illuminated the fact that not only have teachers at Bayside had to shift their
instructional practices but also they have had to reexamine how students acquire and engage in
new learning that supports the finding that the inquiry method seems to be the model that
teachers are utilizing for their students to have multiple opportunities to investigate and deepen
their understanding of new concepts while also developing critical 21st-century skills.
While survey and interview data indicated that teachers at Bayside believed that they
utilized inquiry-based teaching methods in the classroom, the observation data did not provide
enough evidence to support these beliefs. Six classroom observations were conducted at
Bayside. In five of the six classrooms, teachers were stationed at the blackboard while students
did problems or work at their desks. One of the classrooms had students working on an English
worksheet with a partner, but the assignment did not lend itself toward inquiry-based learning. In
another classroom, students were seated in groups and were comparing their notes regarding
photosynthesis in an interactive notebook; there was no teacher present in this classroom. Some
student groups were sharing while other groups were not clear on their role in the activity and
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seemed to be awaiting a new set of instructions or clarification of current ones. While the data
from surveys and interviews demonstrated that teachers had shifted their instructional approach
toward inquiry-based learning as a result of the PRONAFECYT initiative, the observational
findings did not support this shift.
Results Summary for Research Question 4
The analysis of the survey, interview, and observational data indicated that since the
implementation of the PRONAFECYT decree, teachers at Bayside believed that they were
teaching 21st-century skills. The data also suggested that teachers at Bayside felt that they had
shifted their instructional approach toward inquiry-based learning as a result of the
PRONAFECYT initiative; however, this belief was not observed being transferred over into
daily instructional practice.
Chapter Summary
The data analysis process involved reviewing relevant literature, surveys, interviews, and
observations. The various data gathered were analyzed using the following frameworks: (a)
Spring’s (2008) definition of the globalization of education, (b) the STEM–PBL learning instruc-
tional model developed by Capraro et al. (2013), (c) Bolman and Deal’s (2008) four-frame
leadership model, and (d) Kotter’s (1996) change process. The data analysis for Research
Question 1 included two themes related to Kotter’s (1996) change process: (a) that celebration
and recognition are necessary for change implementation and (b) that effective leaders create a
shared vision when implementing change.
The themes that emerged following the analysis of data related to Research Question 2
stemmed from Bolman and Deal’s (2008) four-frame leadership model, the STEM-PBL instruc-
tional model developed by Capraro et al. (2013), and Kotter’s (2006) theory on the change
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process. These two themes were (a) that change should be embedded in the school’s culture and
(b) that effective teachers should embed inquiry skills across the core curriculum in preparation
for the PRONAFECYT.
The data analysis relevant to Research Question 3 revealed two themes that were sup-
ported by the STEM-PBL instructional model (Capraro et al., 2013) and Wagner’s (2012) 21st-
century skills: (a) that critical thinking and problem-solving skills are developed through partici-
pation in the PRONAFECYT and (b) that curiosity and imagination are encouraged and valued.
This chapter concluded with an analysis of data relevant to Research Question 4. The
analysis process indicated two themes: (a) that 21st-century skills were emphasized in the
classroom and (b) that inquiry-based activities were being used to engage students in the class-
room.
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CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Countries all around the world are competing to be leaders in the next big job war. In
order to be competitive in this war, countries are making internal changes that are driven by
quality GDP growth (Clifton, 2011). Some of the internal changes that countries are implement-
ing are directed toward impacting job growth as a means to increase GDP. To create the jobs of
tomorrow, international communities must be innovative and forward thinking in their develop-
ment of human capital, with a body of workers who are ready to take on the complex employ-
ment demands of a knowledge-driven, innovative-based economy (Spring, 2008).
Nations worldwide must undergo significant changes as they work to develop an innova-
tive workforce with the requisite 21st-century skills and STEM content knowledge necessary in a
globally competitive economy (Spring, 2008). Some of the shifts necessary to create and develop
a workforce capable of taking over the jobs within an innovation-based, knowledge-driven
economy are occurring within the public educational system (Friedman, 2007). Costa Rica is one
country that has made some significant changes to its public school system as it seeks to promote
and develop innovative workers (CINDE, 2013a). To provide students with the necessary 21st-
century skills and STEM knowledge, one specific shift that the country has made is mandating
participation in the PRONAFECYT. The PRONAFECYT decree was enacted to ensure that all
K–12 students have access to a multitude of scientific inquiry opportunities that will help them
develop a variety of 21st-century skills and increase their understanding of STEM content
(Valencia, 2011).
Chapter 1 provided an overview of the study, the purpose behind the study, and its sig-
nificance. The chapter also described background information and terminology pertaining to
Costa Rica, the PRONAFECYT initiative, the STEM–PBL instructional model, and leadership.
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Chapter 2 reviewed the literature relevant to understanding the significance of globaliza-
tion, STEM PBL, 21st-century skills, and leadership. The chapter provided detail about the
political and economic history of Costa Rica and outlined the structure of the educational system
in the country. The literature review also presented information about PRONAFECYT and its
connection to Costa Rica’s current economic agenda and national goals.
Chapter 3 detailed the research methodology used in this study and explained the purpose
for utilizing the qualitative approach. The chapter discussed the sample and population, instru-
mentation, and data collection methods that were used in the study. The chapter also outlined the
data analysis approach that was used to analyze the data.
Chapter 4 provided a narrative of the results of the data analysis, including a detailed
description of the themes organized by the research questions. A summary of the results of the
qualitative data analysis was presented following each theme. Chapter 5 presents a summary of
the entire study, including a conclusion, possible implications for educational practice, and
suggestions for future research opportunities.
The purpose of the study was to understand the effects of educational leadership on
participation in PRONAFECYT by Costa Rica’s primary schools. The study identified the role
that school leaders have in the implementation of the PRONAFECYT initiative. Additionally,
the study explored how schools have restructured their educational programs by focusing on
shifts in teacher practices.
There were four theoretical frameworks utilized in this study to examine the problem: (a)
Spring’s (2008) definition of the globalization of education, (b) the STEM–PBL instructional
model of Capraro et al. (2013), (c) Bolman and Deal’s (2008) four-frame leadership model, and
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(d) Kotter’s (1996) change process. These frameworks provided a specific lens in generating and
answering the following four research questions:
1. What is the role that educational leaders play in implementing the PRONAFECYT
initiative?
2. How do teacher practices at successful schools differ from teacher practices at less
successful schools, as measured by participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT?
3. How have site and system leaders prepared their schools to equip students with 21st-
century skills (soft skills) necessary to participate in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT?
4. How has participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT affected instructional
practices?
This study utilized the qualitative case study approach to answer the four research ques-
tions. In an effort to understand how Costa Rica’s educational leaders from the government,
business world, and school sites have impacted the PRONAFECYT implementation at the site
level, it was important to capture the feelings, behaviors, and beliefs of representatives from each
of these educational leader groups (Merriam, 2009). Understanding and exploring their individ-
ual experiences provided insight into the practices and behaviors that contributed to successful
leadership practices related to implementation of the PRONAFECYT.
The qualitative approach was also used as a means to extract rich, descriptive data. The
study gathered and collected rich data through surveys, interviews, and observations. These
types of data provided a holistic understanding of how educational leaders from the Costa Rican
government agencies, businesses, and local school sites have supported implementation of the
PRONAFECYT initiative at the school site level and shed light on general characteristics that
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educational leaders may possess when having great success with their PRONAFECYT imple-
mentation (Merriam, 2009).
The MEP and the MICITT intend to utilize these data to strengthen the PRONAFECYT
and the support that will be provided to the school sites for implementation in the future. The
two ministries also hope to use the findings from this study, in conjunction with the findings
from the studies conducted by other members of the research team, to gain a deeper understand-
ing of the opinions associated with the science and technology fairs in primary schools through-
out Costa Rica.
Summary of Findings
There were eight findings that emerged from the data analysis of surveys, interviews, and
observations. Each research question had two distinct findings that resulted from the analysis of
data. The findings related to Research Question 1 indicated that (a) educational leaders celebrate
and recognize the efforts of students who are successful in their participation in the
PRONAFECYT and (b) site and system educational leaders have not clearly communicated a
shared vision when implementing the PRONAFECYT at the school site. The findings related to
Research Question 2 revealed that effective PRONAFECYT implementation occurs when (a) the
PRONAFECYT is embedded in the school’s culture and (b) when teachers embed inquiry skills
across the core curriculum to develop students’ 21st-century skills. The findings related to
Research Question 3 indicated that (a) educational leaders believe that students’ critical thinking
and problem-solving skills are developed through participation in the PRONAFECYT and (b)
educational leaders within the larger school system believe in the importance of nurturing and
valuing curiosity and imagination as students participate in the PRONAFECYT. The findings
related to Research Question 4 revealed that (a) 21st-century skills have been emphasized in the
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classroom since the implementation of the PRONAFECYT and (b) teachers believe that they use
inquiry-based activities to engage students in the classroom since the implementation of the
PRONAFECYT.
Research Question 1
In order to identify the role that educational leaders play in implementing the
PRONAFECYT initiative, a qualitative analysis of surveys, interviews, and observations was
conducted. This section will discuss the following two findings that resulted from the data
analysis process: (a) that educational leaders celebrate and recognize the efforts of students who
are successful in their participation in the PRONAFECYT and (b) that site and system educa-
tional leaders have not clearly communicated a shared vision when implementing the
PRONAFECYT at the school site. This discussion will describe how the findings connect to the
frameworks utilized within the study and explain the possible impact that these findings have on
the PRONAFECYT implementation at Bayside Elementary, the school on which this study
primarily focused.
Data analysis revealed that educational leaders play a vital role in successfully imple-
menting the PRONAFECYT initiative. Working to take a school system through the change
process requires symbolic leadership, where the leader is always working in a variety of ways to
communicate a shared belief and sense of community among the members of the organization
and to facilitate a collective understanding of the purpose for the mission (Bolman & Deal, 2008;
Fullan, 2010; Kotter, 1996; Marzano et al., 2005). Leaders must also work hard to create a plan
for public improvements in performance (i.e., wins), including visibly recognizing and rewarding
people who made the wins possible to support the vision trajectory (Kotter, 1996). Through
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these public celebrations, individuals are motivated to continue working through change despite
setbacks or discomfort.
The first finding for Research Question 1 indicated that educational leaders in Costa Rica
are celebrating and recognizing the efforts of students who are successful in their participation in
the PRONAFECYT. The data indicated that most of the recognition and celebration focused on
students, with the school director also recognizing the efforts of the teachers who worked to help
these particular students succeed. However, in order to fully implement PRONAFECYT effec-
tively, one would expect to see celebration and recognition of those members of the school com-
munity who have made efforts to succeed, even if the outcome was not successful. Kotter (1996)
contended that focusing on short-term wins and the process of implementation is a necessary step
toward implementing change. While there was evidence of celebration and recognition of
students who were successful in their participation, there was no evidence that true short-term
wins for all student and teacher members were celebrated or recognized.
Effective implementation of PRONAFECYT requires that educational leaders communi-
cate their vision of the PRONAFECYT to all members involved in the implementation process
(Bolman & Deal, 2008). According to Bolman and Deal (2008), leaders who seek to disrupt the
status quo must first inherently believe that there is a dire need for change and then passionately
communicate that belief to others within the organization through symbolic leadership. As Costa
Rica’s system and site educational leaders work to implement the PRONAFECYT within each
school site, they must operate under the symbolic frame and work to inspire all those around
them to share in their vision for change and to create a sense of urgency and purpose for the
PRONAFECYT. The second finding for Research Question 1 indicated that although govern-
ment and business leaders believe in the benefits of the PRONAFECYT, system and site leaders
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have not clearly communicated these benefits to the school communities, thus impacting the
focus on a shared vision for the PRONAFECYT initiative at the school site. The results also
indicated that the teachers at Bayside Elementary do not feel that their school director has clearly
communicated a shared vision within their school community. Both system and site leaders did
not operate under a symbolic frame. They failed to provide purpose and meaning to their work
through a shared mission and identity. This lack of symbolic leadership may have impacted the
level of fidelity with which Bayside is currently implementing the PRONAFECYT initiative.
While Costa Rica’s system and site leadership may have individual beliefs regarding the
need for students to participate in the PRONAFECYT, they did not collectively communicate
that belief and vision for implementation to key stakeholders, especially teachers. Their failure
to openly communicate the relevance and purpose for the PRONAFECYT beyond the mandate
and their failure to celebrate the efforts of the students and teachers as they embark on this new
journey of inquiry-based instruction and learning seemed to have affected the overall implemen-
tation of the PRONAFECYT within Bayside Elementary. In moving forward, the system leaders
within the MICITT and MEP should reach out to individual school directors, including the
director at Bayside, to ensure that there is a common understanding for implementation of
PRONAFECYT and model ways that school directors can communicate this vision, including
ways to support the process of implementation.
Research Question 2
In order to explain how teacher practices at successful schools differ from teacher prac-
tices at less successful schools, as measured by participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT,
a qualitative analysis of surveys, interviews, and observations was conducted. In an effort to
answer this research question, the data utilized in the analysis was compared between two
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schools: Bayside Elementary and Atlantic Elementary. Bayside was deemed a school with less
overall success with PRONAFECYT implementation, and Atlantic was identified as a school
that has authentically embraced the initiative through its implementation. This section will
discuss the following two findings that resulted from the data analysis process: (a) that effective
PRONAFECYT implementation occurs when PRONAFECYT is embedded in the school’s
culture and (b) that effective PRONAFECYT implementation occurs when teachers embed
inquiry skills across the core curriculum to develop students’ 21st-century skills. This discussion
will describe how the findings connect to the frameworks that the study used and explain the
possible impact that these findings have on implementation of the PRONAFECYT at Bayside
Elementary.
The findings for Research Question 2 indicated that there were distinct differences
between teacher practices at schools that are successful with implementation of the
PRONAFECYT and those practices at schools that are experiencing less success. The first
finding for Research Question 2 revealed that leadership at Atlantic, a school implementing the
PRONAFECYT with fidelity, has embedded the PRONAFECYT within the culture of the
school. As a byproduct of focusing all efforts on supporting the science fair program, instruc-
tional practices at this school site have shifted to adapt to the needs of the students. As suggested
by Kotter (1996), for change to be sustainable, it must be visible in all aspects of the organiza-
tion. The data from surveys, interviews, and observations with the Atlantic School Director and
teachers clearly demonstrated that the Director’s belief in the PRONAFECYT was reflected in
classroom instruction, in teachers’ beliefs, and in student activities throughout the school.
Aligned with the research of Capraro et al. (2013), teacher practices at Atlantic have provided
students with multiple opportunities to develop their critical thinking and real-world learning
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 144
compared to their peers at Bayside, a school that has been less successful with authentic
PRONAFECYT implementation. The data also demonstrated that the staff at Atlantic made
deliberate attempts to embrace the skills that students need for the PRONAFECYT. On the other
hand, leadership at Bayside did not seem to build a school culture around the PRONAFECYT.
The data revealed that Bayside’s school leader viewed the science fair initiative as one of many
different programs that the school provides for the students, with the focus being limited to
preparation for the science fair and stopping once the fair has been completed. This situation was
evident in the Bayside School Director’s lack of vision for PRONAFECYT implementation and
the teachers’ sage-on-the-stage instructional practices that were observed in many of the class-
rooms.
The second finding for Research Question 2 indicated that teachers at successful schools,
such as Atlantic, thoughtfully embedded the development of inquiry skills across their core
curriculum to prepare their students for the PRONAFECYT and the global job market. As indi-
cated in the literature, students must be presented with multiple opportunities to develop specific
21st-century skills, such as inquiry, which are the skills necessary to be part of an innovative,
knowledge-driven workforce (Capraro et al., 2013). This task can be done when inquiry skills
are utilized in a variety of content areas. Teachers at Atlantic felt that students should have
multiple opportunities to develop inquiry skills and connect their learning across the curriculum.
On the other hand, the interview and observation data revealed that teachers at Bayside utilized
inquiry-based activities only when specifically preparing their students for the PRONAFECYT
but did not extend these opportunities into multiple core content areas, as seen at Atlantic.
While both Bayside Elementary and Atlantic Elementary have had success with sending
students to the national level of the PRONAFECYT, there were clear differences at the site level
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 145
with regard to teacher practices. Many of the teacher practices at Bayside indicated that imple-
mentation of the PRONAFECYT was not truly successful, with certain activities and instruc-
tional routines limited to preparation for the school site PRONAFECYT competition. Inquiry-
based learning and opportunities for students to develop their 21st-century skills were not visibly
prevalent or widespread; the PRONAFECYT was seen as one of many programs that the school
provides for its students. On the other hand, aspects of the PRONAFECYT were clearly part of
the school culture at Atlantic Elementary. Evidence of PRONAFECYT implementation was
visible in classrooms and in the school’s student-run greenhouse. Atlantic’s School Director and
teachers shared the belief that they were not simply preparing students for the PRONAFECYT
competition but rather providing them with the necessary skills that they would need in their
future careers.
Research Question 3
In an effort to describe how site and system leaders have prepared their schools to equip
students with the 21st-century skills (soft skills) necessary to participate in the Costa Rican
PRONAFECYT, a qualitative analysis of surveys, interviews, and observations was conducted.
This section will discuss the following two findings that resulted from the data analysis process:
(a) that educational leaders believe that students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills are
developed through participation in the PRONAFECYT and (b) that educational leaders within
the larger school system believe in the importance of nurturing and valuing curiosity and imagi-
nation as students participate in the PRONAFECYT. This discussion will also explain how the
findings connect to some of the frameworks used within the study and suggest the possible
impact of these findings for Bayside’s implementation of the PRONAFECYT.
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Since the enactment of the PRONAFECYT initiative, Costa Rica’s primary school
students have been working on developing the 21st-century skills they need to be productive
members of the country’s knowledge-driven and innovation-based workforce. Capraro et al.
(2013) felt that students develop the skills they need to work collaboratively in a high-tech
industry through the process of inquiry and problem solving. The first finding for Research
Question 3 revealed that site and system leaders were making efforts to ensure that students in
primary schools such as Bayside were developing 21st-century skills through their participation
in the PRONAFECYT. One of the findings from the data analysis indicated that teachers at
Bayside genuinely believed that they are helping their students to develop essential critical
thinking that will be needed in their future careers. Additionally, the Bayside teachers believed
that they are making efforts to help their students develop problem-solving skills. These skills
are part of Wagner’s (2012) seven 21st-century skills that he contended are necessary for students
to possess in order to be prepared to take on the labor demands of the global marketplace. While
teachers at Bayside have a genuine belief that they are supporting the development of these key
skills, the data from observations revealed that the teachers have not yet made that shift from
mindset to action. The reality is that Bayside teachers’ perceptions of their own lesson delivery
and planning differ from what is actually occurring.
The second finding for Research Question 3 that was affirmed through the data analysis
process revealed that educational leaders within the larger school system believed in the impor-
tance of nurturing and valuing curiosity and imagination as students participate in the
PRONAFECYT. The fact that it was found that only the system leaders valued the development
of curiosity and imagination indicated that there is a discrepancy between beliefs of the system
leaders and those of the site leaders. It was found that Costa Rican government leaders felt
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 147
strongly that curiosity and imaginative skills, part of Wagner’s (2012) survival skills, should be
nurtured and encouraged in order for the country to develop a large base of innovative workers
prepared to take on the global job demands that await them. However, these beliefs were not
fully shared by Bayside’s School Director and some teachers. While certain teachers at Bayside
felt that PRONAFECYT provided an opportunity for them to incite curiosity and imagination in
their students, the School Director and other teachers saw student curiosity as something limited
to PRONAFECYT preparation. These school site leaders did not operate under the mindset that
the school should expend effort to create multiple opportunities for students to hone and develop
their 21st-century skills, specifically curiosity and imagination, beyond their participation in the
PRONAFECYT.
The findings for Research Question 3 indicated that Costa Rica’s educational leaders are
beginning to see the importance of developing students’ 21st-century thinking skillset. While
there is some belief that students require all of these skills to be successful in the
PRONAFECYT, not all educational leaders saw the importance of developing each of the 21st-
century skills. Furthermore, while teachers at Bayside believed that they are providing opportu-
nities for students to develop specific 21st-century skills, they did not necessarily receive the
support needed to turn their beliefs into action.
Research Question 4
In order to explain how participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT has affected
instructional practices within primary schools, surveys, interviews, and observations were
analyzed and synthesized. This section will discuss the following two findings that resulted from
the data analysis process: (a) that 21st-century skills have been emphasized in the classroom
since the implementation of the PRONAFECYT and (b) that teachers believed that they have
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 148
utilized inquiry-based activities to engage students in the classroom since the implementation of
the PRONAFECYT. This discussion will describe how the findings connect to the frameworks
that the study used and explain the possible impact that these findings have on PRONAFECYT
implementation at Bayside Elementary.
As Costa Rica’s primary schools are evolving in order to produce a knowledge-driven
workforce of innovators and entrepreneurs who possess the skills necessary to be self-reliant in
the global economy, instructional practices must change so that students can gain the knowledge
and experiences required to develop key 21st-century skills. The PRONAFECYT decree
requires teachers to change the manner in which they deliver new content and the activities that
they choose so that students can apply their new learning. The STEM–PBL framework of
Capraro et al. (2013) was found to be an appropriate instructional model that includes specific
components to support instructional practices for the PRONAFECYT implementation and
promoting 21st-century competencies whereby students can problem solve, think critically, col-
laborate, communicate, and utilize their creativity, curiosity, and innovative skills in a variety of
ways.
The PRONAFECYT initiative seems to have had an impact on teachers’ perceptions
regarding their instructional practices at Bayside. The two findings for Research Question 4
indicated that teachers at Bayside believed that they are (a) teaching 21st-century skills and (b)
utilizing an inquiry-based teaching model. These two findings are aligned with two of the eight
components of a STEM–PBL instructional model. While it was noted that Bayside’s teachers
genuinely felt that PRONAFECYT has allowed them to provide opportunities for their students
to develop and hone their 21st-century skills in addition to utilizing more inquiry-based strate-
gies, this belief was not observed being transferred into their daily instructional practice. The
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teachers at Bayside have not made the shift from mindset to action; consequently, students are
not receiving the instruction that they need to fully develop these skills. However, while the
teachers were not observed delivering aspects of the STEM–PBL instructional model, their
reflections and responses indicated that they believed in the need for change to help students
experience success in their PRONAFECYT participation.
The findings for Research Question 4 revealed that the PRONAFECYT has had a clear
impact on Bayside teachers’ beliefs about their instructional practices. Many of the teachers held
a belief that instruction must shift to provide students with the skills and knowledge that they
need to participate in the PRONAFECYT. However, teachers’ beliefs about their instruction did
not match what was observed. Bayside teachers were on their way toward changing their instruc-
tional routines to meet students’ cognitive demands that are required with the PRONAFECYT
implementation but need some professional development to do so.
Educational leaders play a vital role in implementing change in Costa Rica. As leaders
work to implement the PRONAFECYT initiative with fidelity, it was found that their actions, or
lack thereof, affected the authenticity with which implementation occurs at each school site, with
a specific focus on Bayside Elementary. The findings of this study indicated that school site
leadership has been integral in supporting the PRONAFECYT initiative and that when a school
director does not inherently believe in the purpose and/or relevance of the initiative, full imple-
mentation can be difficult. Bayside’s School Director did not exhibit symbolic leadership in that
she did not communicate the impact that participation in the PRONAFECYT can have on
students, their future careers, and on Costa Rica as a nation. She was not effective in creating a
shared vision around the PRONAFECYT. While the findings indicated that teachers believed
that their instructional practices must change in order to provide students with the skills needed
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to participate in the PRONAFECYT, the Director did not provide the appropriate support for
teachers to truly change their instructional practices, nor did she provide opportunities for
teachers to see the benefits of preparing students for the PRONAFECYT and the impact that it
could have on their future career pathway.
Implications for Practice
Analysis and findings in this study validated the importance of school site leadership
when implementing change. The data revealed that Costa Rica’s educational leaders in govern-
ment and businesses, the system leaders, possess a clear vision for the benefits of participation in
the PRONAFECYT and its direct connection to increasing GDP and job growth through the
development of a knowledge-driven, innovative-based workforce. Leadership seems to be a
determining factor on whether this vision is realized at the school site level. The government and
business leaders failed to communicate their vision for the PRONAFECYT to school directors,
including the director at Bayside. Thus, Bayside’s lack of authentic implementation of the
PRONAFECYT can be linked to a lack of clear communication and symbolic leadership. The
discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and their actions may have been a result of the school
director’s failure to be a symbolic leader and follow all of Kotter’s (1996) change process steps.
Primary schools must implement a PRONAFECYT program where all students partici-
pate. This participation must include providing all students with the opportunity to compete on a
local, regional, or national level. However, students must also have opportunities to develop the
intended skills they need for their future careers. This goal can happen more effectively when
instructional practices are based on the principles of STEM PBL and these principles are linked
to other content areas as well. To do this, school site leaders must communicate a clear purpose
and vision for the change, including explaining why there must be a shift in teachers’
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instructional practices. School directors must carefully utilize their leadership skills and knowl-
edge base to implement change. While this is a difficult task, school site leaders need to under-
stand that change is a process. They must take their school through each step of the change
process, working to develop a shared belief and a sense of community among all members of the
school to create a collective understanding of the purpose for PRONAFECYT (Bolman & Deal,
2008; Fullan, 2010; Kotter, 1996; Marzano et al., 2005). When leaders can demonstrate that
their change is visible and fully ingrained in the culture of the school, full implementation is in
effect.
Recommendations for Future Research
An 18-member research team conducted this study. The researchers shared the data
collected from government officials and business employees. Six members of the research team
collaborated in their data collection at six schools within the Mountain Region, all selected by
Costa Rica’s MEP. At these school sites, school directors and teachers were interviewed and
classroom observations were conducted.
One suggestion for future research would be to combine data from many schools within a
particular region, such as Mountain. In collecting data from multiple schools within one region,
the MEP can gain a deeper understanding of current leadership practices across the entire region
and pinpoint specific areas of support that might strengthen PRONAFECYT implementation
within all the schools in that specific region.
Another suggestion for future research would be to conduct a study of schools within two
or more regions and compare different aspects of the PRONAFECYT implementation. While
this study looked at general implementation practices, such as 21st-century skills and STEM
PBL, a future study might break down specific STEM–PBL instructional practices and specific
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21st-century skills and look at how leadership is affecting specific instructional practices and the
development of specific skills at different schools in various regions.
Another important suggestion for future research would be to conduct a study comparing
leadership’s impact on the implementation of the PRONAFECYT in both rural and urban
schools. Both of the schools on which this study focused were urban and educated a large
number of students; however, Costa Rica also has many schools that are far from the city and
educate a small number of students who live in very remote areas. Collecting data from school
directors and teachers at both rural and urban schools might provide the MEP and MICITT with a
clearer picture on the diverse needs of Costa Rica’s urban and rural schools.
The present study focused on Costa Rica’s primary schools. This same study could be
replicated but with a focus on secondary schools in Costa Rica. The results of the study could be
compared with the current study to yield best practices for leadership and implementation of
change.
Conclusion
The impact of school site leadership on implementation of the PRONAFECYT was
clearly evident through this study. The findings indicated that school site leaders must create a
schoolwide vision for the PRONAFECYT that is aligned with the country’s vision for it. Leader-
ship must also follow all eight steps identified in Kotter’s (1996) change process in order for the
change to be sustainable and ingrained in the school’s culture. As noted through the data analysis
of surveys, interviews, and observations, the PRONAFECYT has created a shift in teachers’
beliefs regarding their instructional practices—but only at schools where teachers act on their
beliefs was there evidence that students had opportunities to develop the requisite 21st-century
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skills necessary to be members of a national workforce ready to take on the complex demands of
the global marketplace.
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 154
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Appendix A
Recruitment Letter
DATE
Dear XXX,
On June 15, 2015, a group of 18 doctoral students from the University of Southern California,
Rossier School of Education, will travel to Costa Rica as part of a study team led by Dr. Michael
Escalante. The purpose of our research is to understand the effects of educational leadership on
participation in the National Program of Science and Technology Fairs (PRONAFECYT) in
primary schools in Costa Rica. Specifically, we are interested in the roles of primary school
leaders in preparing and implementing this initiative. As part of our study, the following ques-
tions will be addressed:
1. What is the role of educational leaders in implementing the Costa Rican
PRONAFECYT initiative?
2. How do teacher practices at successful schools differ from teacher practices at less
successful schools as measured by the level of participation in the Costa Rican
PRONAFECYT?
3. How have site and system leaders prepared their schools to equip students with
21st-century skills necessary to participate in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT?
4. How has participation in the Costa Rican PRONAFECYT affected instructional
practice?
We would appreciate an opportunity to speak with you, members of the Ministry of Education,
and educational leaders at regional and school site levels. It is our goal to conduct surveys and
interviews to gather data to address these research questions. Your input will be invaluable to
our study.
Thank you for considering our request. We are available to meet with you any time between
from June 15 and June 19. Please feel free to contact any member of our study team if you have
any questions.
Sincerely,
USC Doctoral Students
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Appendix B
List of Research Sites
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Appendix C
Teacher Interview Protocol: English and Spanish Versions
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Appendix D
School Director Interview Protocol: English and Spanish Versions
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Appendix E
Government Official/Business Leaders Interview Protocol: English and
Spanish Versions
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Appendix F
Parent Interview Protocol: English and Spanish Versions
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Appendix G
Student Interview Protocol: English and Spanish Versions
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Appendix H
Observation Protocol
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Appendix I
Teacher Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions
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Appendix J
School Director Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions
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Appendix K
Government Official Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions
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Appendix L
Business Partner Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions
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Appendix M
Parent Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions
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Appendix N
Student Survey Protocol: English and Spanish Versions
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Appendix O
Consent Form
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Waite Phillips Hall
3470 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA 90089
INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR EXEMPT NONMEDICAL RESEARCH
THE ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN PARTICIPATION IN THE NATIONAL
PROGRAM OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FAIRS IN COSTA RICA
You are invited to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people who
voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains information about this study. You
should ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of educational leadership on participation in
the National Program of Science and Technology Fairs in primary schools in Costa Rica.
PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 15-minute survey, a
30-minute audiotaped interview, and/or a 10-minute classroom observation. You do not have to
answer any questions that you don’t want to answer; if you don’t want to be taped, you can still
participate in this study.
CONFIDENTIALITY
There will be no identifiable information obtained in connection with this study. Your name,
address, or other identifiable information will not be collected.
The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research
studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.
When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable
information will be used.
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INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Michael Escalante, University of Southern California,
mescalan@usc.edumailto:mescalan@usc.edu; mailto:mescalan@usc.edu
Co-investigators:
Oryla Wiedoeft, Assistant to Dr. Escalante,
wiedoeft@usc.edumailto:wiedoeft@usc.edu
Patricia Brent-Sanco, Principal, Paramount Unified School District, pbrent@usc.edumailto:pbrent@usc.edu
Cindy Chavez Swenson, MWP Lecturer, University of California, Merced,
ccswenso@usc.edumailto:ccswenso@usc.edu
Jesus Corral, Senior Director, Los Angeles County Probation Dept.,
jesuscorral1@gmail.commailto:jesuscorral1@gmail.com
Ricardo Esquivel, Principal, Partnership to Uplift Communities, ricardoe@usc.edumailto:ricardoe@usc.edu
Carin Fractor, Teacher, Saugus Union School District,
fractor@usc.edumailto:fractor@usc.edu
Miguel Gonzales, Assistant Principal, Santa Barbara Unified School District
gonzalmm@usc.edumailto:gonzalmm@usc.edu
Denise Harshman, Coordinator, Orange County Department of Education
harshman@usc.edumailto:harshman@usc.edu
Mathew Kodama, Assistant Principal, Pasadena Unified School District
mathewwk@usc.edumailto:mathewwk@usc.edu
Jennifer Lashier, Assistant Principal, Arcadia Unified School District, lashier@usc.edumailto:lashier@usc.edu
April Leon, Teacher, West Covina High School,
aprilleo@usc.edumailto:aprilleo@usc.edu
Omar Lopez, Clinical Associate Professor, Assistant Director of Field Education, USC School of Social Work,
omarl@usc.edumailto:omarl@usc.edu
Christin Molano, Principal, Glendale Unified School District, cwalley@gusd.netmailto:cwalley@gusd.net
Fernando Marquez, Teacher on Assignment, Oro Grande School District,
fmarquez@usc.edumailto:fmarquez@usc.edu
Maribel Martinez, Principal, Lynwood Unified School District Mart632@usc.edumailto:Mart632@usc.edu
Wendy Poffenberger, Assistant Principal, Long Beach Unified School District,
wpoffenb@usc.edumailto:wpoffenb@usc.edu
Bea Spelker-Levi, Principal, Paramount Unified School District,
bspelker@paramount.k12.ca.usmailto:bspelker@paramount.k12.ca.us
Richard Storti, Vice President of Administrative Services, Fullerton College, rstorti@usc.edumailto:rstorti@usc.edu
John Tung, Assistant Principal, Arcadia Unified School District, johntung@usc.edumailto:johntung@usc.edu;
mailto:johntung@usc.edu; mailto:johntung@usc.edu
IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-
0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edumailto:upirb@usc.edu
ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 205
Appendix P
Summary of the Research Proposal

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Countries around the world are making significant changes to their educational systems as they work to develop global workers who are prepared with the 21st-century skills needed to be successful in the global marketplace. Costa Rica is one country that has made a commitment to improving its international presence in the global economy by way of increasing the educational experiences of its youth. In order to provide its students with the necessary 21st-century skills to be equipped to meet the labor demands of the multinational corporations that choose to move their businesses to Costa Rica, the country mandated that all Costa Rican public school students participate in the National Program of Science and Technology Fairs (Programa Nacional de Ferias de Ciencia y Tecnología [PRONAFECYT]). The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of educational leadership on participation in the PRONAFECYT in Costa Rica’s primary schools. The study identified the role that educational leaders have had in the develop- ment and implementation of the PRONAFECYT initiative. The study also explored how schools have restructured their educational programs by focusing on leadership and instructional practices that support the development of an innovative, knowledge-based workforce. ❧ The analysis of data gathered through surveys, interviews, and observations revealed that both system and site leadership have played a vital role in successfully implementing the PRONAFECYT initiative. As schools work to implement the science fair initiative with fidelity, Costa Rica’s educational leaders must (a) communicate a clear vision for change that authentically encompasses the original intent of PRONAFECYT and (b) understand and follow the various components aligned with the change process to create a sustainable, effective program that benefits students in their future academic and career pathways.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Fractor, Carin Beth (author)

Core Title The role of educational leadership on participation in the National Program of Science and Technology Fairs at Bayside Elementary School

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 05/02/2016

Defense Date 02/19/2015

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Costa Rica,Educational Leadership,Globalization,multinational corporations,OAI-PMH Harvest,science fair,twenty-first century skills

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Advisor Escalante, Michael (committee chair), Garcia, Pedro E. (committee member), Hinman, Charles (committee member)

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