AUTHORS
Brad Bessler, UW-Milwaukee, School of Education
Joey Zocher, Ph.D., TransCenter for Youth
Laurel Cutright, Escuela Verde
Kim Johnson, Escuela Verde
Leslie Quevedo, UW-Madison, Division of Extension
Justin Hougham, Ph.D., UW-Milwaukee, School of Education, Education Administration; UW-Madison, Division of Extension
Introduction – Milwaukee as an Educational Context
The inequities that persist in the State of Wisconsin continue to disproportionately impact marginalized communities. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Milwaukee has the second-highest poverty rate among the top 50 most populated cities in the U.S., with 24.6% of the city living in poverty. Additionally, a recent report by the National Center for Education Statistics (2019) shows that when race is considered, Wisconsin continues to have the nation’s widest opportunity gap for high school students for math and science. Sociodemographic disparities affect educational outcomes such as achievement in STEM fields, which has led local higher education institutions to address these inequities through innovative approaches.
One area of equity that is often overlooked but critical to child and youth development is meaningful access to green spaces or green schoolyards. The intentional construction of green spaces and green schoolyards for PreK-12 schools has been proven to have positive effects – yet Milwaukee residents that identify as Black, Hispanic and Latinx, Indigenous and Native American, or Asian American and Pacific Islander have access to about 44% less park space than residents of neighborhoods that are predominantly White.
Schools can play a critical role in advancing the holistic benefits of green spaces – both in terms of their construction and integration of the learning spaces into the school curriculum. Advancing green spaces as an equity issue calls for integrating models of equitable school leadership, project based learning, and green schoolyards.
Author correspondence should be directed to hougham@wisc.edu