Here are some of the best questions for an elementary school student survey about after-school programs, plus practical tips for crafting your own. We use Specific to quickly build and refine conversational surveys that genuinely engage students and surface more insightful responses.
Best open-ended questions for elementary school student survey about after-school programs
Open-ended questions shine when you want to understand student perspectives in their own words, beyond ticking boxes. They help reveal experiences, preferences, and unmet needs—crucial insights in education research. These types of questions let students share what really matters to them and uncover feedback you might not expect with rigid choices. Here’s what we recommend:
If you could change one thing about your after-school program, what would it be?
What’s your favorite activity in your after-school program, and why?
Can you tell us about a time you felt happy or proud during your after-school activities?
Are there any activities you wish were offered in your after-school program?
How do you feel after attending your after-school program?
Who do you like to spend time with during after-school activities, and what do you do together?
What do you find difficult or challenging in your after-school program?
If you could invite a special guest to your after-school program, who would it be and what would you want to do with them?
How do you think after-school programs help you at school or at home?
Is there something you wish your teachers or leaders knew about your after-school experience?
There’s strong evidence for gathering qualitative feedback: a U.S. Department of Education study noted that 50% of students in high-quality after-school programs improved in class participation and homework—a key indicator of student engagement that often surfaces in open feedback. [1]
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for elementary school student survey about after-school programs
Single-select multiple-choice questions are a great fit when you need quantitative data, want to spot patterns, or make the conversation easy—sometimes, kids may find it hard to write out complex thoughts, but will quickly select a familiar option. These questions are also a solid starting point: they lower the barrier to sharing and can naturally lead into more open-ended “why” follow-ups for richer context.
Here are some proven examples:
Question: Which activity do you enjoy the most in your after-school program?
Sports and games
Arts and crafts
Homework time
Science experiments
Other
Question: How do you usually feel when the after-school program ends for the day?
Happy
Relaxed
Tired
Bored
Question: How often do you talk about your after-school program with your family?
Every day
A few times a week
Rarely
Never
When to follow up with “why?” Follow-ups work wonders after a student chooses an option—for instance, if someone says their favorite activity is “arts and crafts”, asking “Why do you enjoy arts and crafts the most?” helps you uncover personal motivations, enjoyment, and even program improvement ideas. This combination deepens understanding and makes students feel genuinely heard.
When and why to add the “Other” choice? Always consider an “Other” option when choices may not cover all possibilities. Following up on “Other” lets kids share special interests you might not have thought of, giving a more complete and inclusive picture.
NPS question for after-school programs: does it make sense?
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a single-question, quantitative measurement of how likely someone is to recommend something to friends or family. For after-school programs, you can adapt it for elementary students by asking, “On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to tell your friends to join our after-school program?” Simple, relatable feedback like this helps measure students’ overall satisfaction and word-of-mouth enthusiasm. If scores are low, smart follow-ups can dig into what’s missing or disappointing.
If you want a ready-to-go NPS survey for students, Specific provides a purpose-built template for this case.
The power of follow-up questions
Let’s be real—one answer is rarely enough, especially when working with kids who may answer briefly or vaguely. Follow-up questions (and especially automated AI followups) get past surface responses to access the “why” and “how” behind students’ answers. Specific uses AI to automatically generate smart, context-aware follow-up questions in real time, making each survey feel like a thoughtful conversation with an expert researcher. This not only saves educators hours of follow-up via email, but also ensures a more natural interaction that is familiar to digital-native students.
Student: I liked playing.
AI follow-up: Can you tell me what kind of games you liked playing the most and why?
Student: It was okay.
AI follow-up: What would make the after-school program better for you?
How many follow-ups to ask? For most surveys, 2–3 well-crafted follow-up questions are enough. With Specific, you can set up the survey so the AI stops when it has the context it needs—saving time and making sure students don’t feel overwhelmed or bored.
This makes it a conversational survey. Asking follow-up questions in context transforms a static survey into a real chat. This keeps kids engaged and leads to more honest, richer feedback.
AI survey response analysis is straightforward—even with lots of unstructured text, you can easily analyze all responses using AI and surface actionable insights without slogging through hundreds of individual replies.
Automated follow-ups are a new idea for many schools and researchers. If you haven’t tried them, generate a survey and see how it feels to chat your way to great insights.
How to prompt ChatGPT (or other AI) for survey questions
If you want inspiration or want to co-create your survey with an AI tool, start with a direct prompt:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for elementary school student survey about after-school programs.
To level up, always provide rich context—your goal, the type of after-school program, or even challenges you hope to solve. Here’s how adding context helps:
We run a creative arts-focused after-school program and want to understand which activities kids love, what obstacles prevent participation, and ideas for new workshops. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for elementary school student survey.
Next, if you want to organize your questions, prompt the AI with:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Once you have clear categories, you can focus your research. For example:
Generate 10 questions for the “student satisfaction” and “activity preference” categories.
Iterating like this produces sharper, more targeted surveys that get to the heart of students’ after-school experiences.
What is a conversational survey (and why AI beats traditional forms)
A conversational survey goes beyond checkboxes and forms—it’s an interactive dialogue that unfolds based on each student’s answers. By listening and asking the right follow-ups, it feels more like a genuine chat with an attentive adult than a one-way test. For elementary school students, this format encourages honest, thoughtful answers; it’s less intimidating and much more engaging.
Here’s how building an AI survey compares to doing it all by hand:
Manual Surveys | AI-Generated Surveys |
---|---|
Pre-written, static forms | Dynamic, real-time conversation |
Hard to personalize follow-ups | Personalized, smart probing with AI |
Slow to build and analyze | Quick creation and instant AI analysis |
Analysis is manual | AI summarizes key themes and insights |
Using something like the Specific AI survey generator means you create surveys by chatting with an expert agent—there’s less friction, fewer missed details, and the process feels like co-creating, not just filling in blanks. If you want step-by-step guidance, see how to create a survey for elementary school students and after-school programs.
Why use AI for elementary school student surveys? AI-powered survey tools like Specific allow you to create and analyze student surveys much faster, personalize the experience, and even adapt the tone or language for younger audiences. With out-of-the-box templates, AI survey examples, and the ability to easily edit questions by chatting using the AI survey editor, both creation and feedback collection are more effective and enjoyable.
Our experience shows that conversational surveys capture more detail, more nuance, and more honest feedback—the kind of insights that drive real improvement in after-school programs.
See this after-school programs survey example now
Create your own AI-powered, student-friendly survey in moments—experience conversational feedback, richer student insights, and effortless AI analysis with Specific.