Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
10-25-2016
Abstract
CUMU (Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities), 2016 Conference, Poster Presentations:
Racial divide in Omaha, NE is apparent—African Americans in the north, Latinos in the south, and Whites in the west, which is visually depicted in Cable’s racial dot map (2013). Beyond racial segregation, according to city data in 2013, 31% of the population are below the poverty level in North Omaha and 22.5% in South Omaha. These two regions result in a 30% poverty rate compared to 18% for all of Omaha. This clearly indicates that not only is the poverty rate higher for North and South regions of Omaha, but this specifically hits the African American and Latino population. The Omaha Public Schools district serves low-income students (73%) and minority students (71%) with the lowest graduation rates residing in North and South Omaha during the 2014 academic year. The University of Nebraska Omaha created a P-16 Service Learning initiative to specifically address poverty and its residual effects such as: educational achievement gaps, high dropout rates, disengaged youth, and high truancy rates. Due to the link between poverty and the negative effects on student’s academic achievements, the P-16 initiative was created to serve the Omaha community by focusing on P-12 schools where 75% of attending families are below the poverty level. Our geographic map will quantitatively highlight the racial segregation which is associated with high poverty levels and where the P-16 Initiative has served the at risk population. Additionally the map will be used as an assessment tool to identify areas of need and where our presence is needed.
Recommended Citation
Najera, Rosa, "Mapping Omaha: A Geographic Assessment of the Service Learning P-16 Initiative" (2016). SLA Scholarship. 2.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/sla_scholarship/2
2016 CUMU Conference Program