The JADENKÄ Program

To provide experimental evidence on the effectiveness of an ethnomathematics education program, in this article we evaluate the impact of JADENKÄ, an intercultural bilingual program designed to increase the mathematical and ethnomathematical skills of the Ngäbe preschoolers, within the comarca Ngäbe-Buglé in Panama. Our experimental results indicate positive effects of the program on the mathematical and ethnomathematical skills of students. The magnitude of the impact on mathematics (0.12-0.18 s.d.) is comparable to other intercultural bilingual education preschool programs in low- and middle-income countries. In ethnomathematics the impact is around 0.23 s.d. Additionally, and consistent with other studies, we find that JADENKÄ has a positive effect on the cultural identity of students. Second, results suggest that the effect of the program in ethnomathematics is higher for students who speak Ngäbere and for those whose teacher identifies as Ngäbe. Finally, the program increased teachers’ ethnomathematical skills and knowledge of the Ngäbere language and culture. Contrary to the positions of some critics on the implementation of an ethnomathematics curriculum, our findings indicate that a well-designed ethnomathematics program can reduce the indigenous achievement gap without putting students in a dilemma between their academic learning and their identity, culture, and language.