Table 1
Monkey in My Chair Program Components.
| ITEM | TEACHER COMPANION | MONKEY MESSAGE | STUFFED ANIMAL MONKEYS | CHILDREN’S BOOK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | A guidebook for teachers on how to utilize the program and resources for the classroom | An online portal for students to message their absent classmate | A large stuffed animal monkey intended to take the absent students place at school and a smaller monkey for the student to keep. | A picture book to aid in the explanation of the purpose of the monkey and their absent classmate. |
Table 2
Participant Demographics.
| VARIABLE | n | % |
|---|---|---|
| Age | ||
| 20–25 | 1 | 1 |
| 26–30 | 8 | 7.9 |
| 31–40 | 20 | 19.8 |
| 41–50 | 39 | 38.6 |
| 51+ | 33 | 32.7 |
| Race | ||
| white | 97 | 96 |
| Black | 3 | 3 |
| Missing | 1 | 1 |
| Hispanic/Latino | ||
| Yes | 4 | 4.2 |
| No | 92 | 95.8 |
| Missing | 5 | 5 |
| Highest Level of Education | ||
| Some College | 1 | 1 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 40 | 39.6 |
| Master’s Degree | 57 | 56.4 |
| Other | 2 | 2 |
| Missing | 1 | 1 |
| Grade Taught | ||
| PreK-1st | 48 | 47.6 |
| 2nd–4th | 17 | 16.8 |
| 5th–7th | 33 | 32.7 |
| Other | 3 | 3 |
| Years of Teaching Experience | ||
| 0–5 | 6 | 5.9 |
| 6–10 | 19 | 18.8 |
| 11–15 | 18 | 17.8 |
| 16–20 | 16 | 15.8 |
| 21+ | 39 | 38.6 |
| Missing | 3 | 3 |
| Total | 101 | 100 |
Table 3
Likert Scale Responses.
| 1–10 | MEAN | STANDARD DEVIATION |
|---|---|---|
| How would you rank the overall program use and information? | 83.88 | 13.43 |
| How likely are you to recommend the Monkey in My Chair Program? | 88.04 | 16.1 |
| Helpfulness | ||
| How would you describe the teacher’s companion? | 64.63 | 22.89 |
| How would you describe the information in the teacher’s companion? | 67.82 | 21.52 |
| How would you describe the included children’s book? | 80.89 | 20.33 |
Figure 1
Participant Rating of Program Components.
In Figure 1, teachers rated each program component.
Table 4
Participant Recommendations for Program Improvement.
| THEME | RECOMMENDATION | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Need for Instructions | “I feel as though I was given a lot of materials for the program but was not told exactly how to utilize it.” | “A short video to show the class with an explanation of why sometimes students have to miss school and why we have the monkey”. | “Reach out to the teacher to inform her/him what the money program is about.” | “Maybe a quick introduction video with some kids who have used the program? Like 3–5 min long?” |
| Digital Enhancement | “Create an online component where kids can connect”. | “Utilize social media more!” | “I wish there was an online portal that my students could have sent messages directly to our absent student. If there was a component like that, I was not aware of”. | “Make the messaging component more streamlined”. |
| Developmentally Appropriate Materials | “Have a book that would be appropriate for older grade levels instead of just primary grades”. | “A higher-level middle school grades appropriate book” | “A book geared toward early childhood would be great”. | “It could have an option for materials to be more relatable to upper elementary students”. |
| Expand Diagnoses | “We have other children who have had long periods of time away from class. I think it great for cancer, but other disease and causes could be great too!” | “I used it for a child with Crohn’s disease, a child with SMA, and child with MLS who all needed to be in and out of school”. | “I would have liked an option for it to be any type of prolonged absence. But it was easy to adjust to that!” | |