Space and Place: An Investigation of Environmental Ecology and Education Equity

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 12:40 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Cultivating Equity and Empowerment in Environmental Education: Investigating Spaces, Identities, and Community Impact (Table 6)

Abstract

This study examines ecological precarity and education equity. By employing geospatial quantitative analysis, we explore the environmental ecology of two different school districts in Illinois, one urban and one rural. The purpose is to investigate the environment and school data to look at differences between ecology and education equity. Three data tools were used including the Environmental Protection Agency’s Screening, the Climate and Economic Justice Screening, and the Illinois State Board of Education report card data. Findings demonstrate asthma rates and environmental ecology differ across the two areas, one predominantly Latinx (urban) and the other mostly Black/African American (rural) regions. This is important given communities of color are more likely to experience disproportionate health impacts due to ecological precarity.

Authors

• Nicole Marie DelMastro-Jeffery, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Hanna Kim, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Samantha A. Lindgren, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign