POTENTIAL BIAS IN TEACHER REFERRALS TO THE SCHOOL NURSE

Education literature suggests gender, race, and socioeconomic status o f students influence the quality and quantity of interactions with the ir leathers. Studies show that teachers favor White, male, and upper-i ncome children. This preliminary study was conducted to determine if b ias was evident in teacher referrals to the school nurse. Referrals fr om seven elementary schools were studied. The 117 children referred fo r nonroutine nursing interventions during the nine-week period were co mpared with 3,787 children not referred. Results showed no differences by gender, but significant differences occurred by socioeconomic stat us and race (p < .001). When controlling for gender and race, no diffe rences existed between White males and African American males. However , significantly (p < .001) more African American females were referred than White females.