Puerto Rican poet José Gualberto Padilla published a poem titled "El maestro Rafael" honoring the educator.
In 1890, Rafael Cordero was immortalized in a painting titled La Escuela del Maestro Rafael Cordero by the artist Francisco Oller which can be seen in the Puerto Rican Athenaeum.

The house in Luna Street, where Rafael Cordero taught, was remodeled by the Government of Puerto Rico and is registered as a historical site in the National Register of Historical Places of the United States.
There is a plaque on the outside that states the historical significance of the building and its relation to him.
The Puerto Rico Teachers Association annually awards the teacher who has distinguished himself or herself in the field of public or private education with the National Medal Rafael Cordero.
There are various schools named after him, among them a high school in San Juan, an elementary school in Aguadilla, an elementary school in Jersey City, New Jersey, and a Junior High School in Brooklyn, New York.

In 2004, the Roman Catholic Church, upon the request of the Archbishop of San Juan, Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M., began the process of Cordero's beatification.
This is the first step on the road to possible canonization.
On December 9, 2013, Pope Francis advanced the cause for Cordero when he declared that Cordero had lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way and is considered venerable.
Puerto Rican poet José Gualberto Padilla published a poem titled "El maestro Rafael" honoring the educator. In 1890, Rafael Cordero was immortalized in a painting titled La Escuela del Maestro Rafael Cordero by the artist Francisco Oller which can be seen in the Puerto Rican Athenaeum.
The house in Luna Street, where Rafael Cordero taught, was remodeled by the Government of Puerto Rico and is registered as a historical site in the National Register of Historical Places of the United States. There is a plaque on the outside that states the historical significance of the building and its relation to him. The Puerto Rico Teachers Association annually awards the teacher who has distinguished himself or herself in the field of public or private education with the National Medal Rafael Cordero. There are various schools named after him, among them a high school in San Juan, an elementary school in Aguadilla, an elementary school in Jersey City, New Jersey, and a Junior High School in Brooklyn, New York.
In 2004, the Roman Catholic Church, upon the request of the Archbishop of San Juan, Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M., began the process of Cordero's beatification. This is the first step on the road to possible canonization. On December 9, 2013, Pope Francis advanced the cause for Cordero when he declared that Cordero had lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way and is considered venerable.
Rafael Cordero (educator)