This study explores teachers' academic expectations of students from low socioeconomic status (SES) in Costa Rica for the purpose of cross-cultural comparison. A group of 17 teachers from two different elementary schools located in a small town in Costa Rica were questioned about their expectations of low SES students enrolled in their classes. Findings show a mixture of favorable and unfavorable expectations of low SES students among the teachers. Teachers who hold unfavorable expectations describe the families of low SES students as poor role models with a poor work ethic. Findings suggest that teachers' unfavorable academic expectations for low SES students are influenced by student immigrant status. Cross-cultural similarities between the findings of this study and studies regarding teacher attitudes toward English learners of low SES in the U.S. are discussed followed by implications for the field of teacher education. The following are appended: (1) Survey--English version; and (2) Survey--Spanish version. (Contains 1 table.)