Here are some of the best questions for an elementary school student survey about feeling included, plus tips on how to create them. We make it easy to build your own survey in seconds with Specific’s AI survey generator.
Best open-ended questions for elementary school student survey about feeling included
Open-ended questions help students express their unique perspectives in their own words. They’re especially useful for capturing the “how” and “why” behind students’ feelings—giving us stories, not just scores. That said, open-enders can get higher nonresponse rates, especially for younger audiences: Pew Research Center found open-ended survey questions average about 18% nonresponse, compared to only 1–2% for closed-ended ([1]). Still, these questions often result in richer insights, especially when students feel safe, heard, and the topic is personal.
Here are our favorite open-ended questions for elementary school student surveys focused on feeling included:
Can you remember a time when you felt really included at school? What happened?
Is there anything about your classroom that helps you feel part of the group?
How do your friends or classmates make you feel welcome?
If you ever feel left out at school, what usually causes it?
Who do you go to when you want to feel more included?
What would make you feel more included during class activities?
How does your teacher help you feel included?
Tell us about a school event where everyone felt part of the team. What made it special?
Is there something grown-ups could do to help you feel more included at school?
Anything else you want to share about feeling included (or not) at school?
Even if some students skip longer questions, a significant number do want to share in-depth feedback—one study found 76% of respondents added comments to open-response fields ([2]). If your survey needs to dig deeper, try pairing open-ended and closed-ended questions for the best of both worlds ([3]).
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for elementary school student survey about feeling included
Single-select multiple-choice questions are great when you’re looking to quantify responses or want to make things easy for students. Sometimes, it’s less overwhelming for kids to pick from a few simple options than to write out a longer answer. These questions also help you spot patterns fast—and open the door for follow-up questions, where you can explore feelings in more detail.
Here are three example questions:
Question: How often do you feel included during school activities?
Always
Most of the time
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
Question: Who helps you feel included at school the most?
Friends
Teachers
Classmates
Other
Question: Which place at school do you feel most included?
Classroom
Cafeteria
Playground
After-school clubs
I don’t feel included anywhere
When to follow up with "why?" If you want to understand the reasons behind a choice (“Sometimes” or “Never” for example), follow up with “Can you share why you feel that way?” This lets students explain their answer, and gives you actionable feedback. It’s especially powerful when combined with conversational AI—automatically digging deeper based on what the student says. Research confirms that follow-ups lead to longer, richer responses with more themes ([4]).
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Offering "Other" (with a follow-up) helps you find out what you didn’t know you didn’t know. Kids might mention a person, place, or situation you never thought of. Follow-up questions uncover surprises you might miss with standard choices.
NPS-type question for elementary school student survey about feeling included
Net Promoter Score (NPS) isn't just for businesses—it works in schools, too. An NPS-style question helps you measure inclusion with a clear, simple score, while allowing for more open feedback in the follow-up. The NPS is, “How likely are you to recommend [school/your classroom] to a friend if they were looking for a place to feel included?” (0–10 scale). This gives you a quantitative feel for belonging, while also starting conversations with follow-ups like, “What would make you more likely to recommend our school to others?” See a ready-to-use survey at Specific’s NPS survey for inclusion.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions can dramatically improve survey quality—especially for young students, where clarity matters most. Read more about automated follow-up questions and why they’re a game changer. With AI, we can ask smart, tailored follow-ups in real time—right after the initial answer. The result? We get to the “why” behind a student’s feelings, and the conversation feels human, never robotic.
Student: "Sometimes I feel left out in class."
AI follow-up: "Can you tell me what makes you feel left out? Is it a certain activity, or something else?"
How many followups to ask? In most cases, 2–3 follow-ups are enough. With Specific, you can set this up so students never feel like they’re repeating themselves and can skip ahead when ready.
This makes it a conversational survey: Follow-ups build a real conversation, not just a form—making every student feel heard and valued, while you get deeper insights from every response.
AI survey analysis, themes, and summarization: No need to dread walls of unstructured text. With AI-powered survey analytics, all responses (even open-enders) are easily summarized and turned into actionable insights for you and your team.
Follow-up questions are a new (and better) way to get more from every response. I encourage you to generate an inclusion survey and experience the difference.
How to write prompts for AI survey question generation
Need help coming up with your own survey? With tools like ChatGPT or any AI survey builder, the secret is in the prompt. Start simple:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for elementary school student survey about feeling included.
But for best results, always give AI more context—describe your role, your students, your goals, your environment. This improves the quality of output:
I'm a 3rd grade teacher at a diverse urban school. I’d like to understand what helps my students feel included, and if there are moments or places where they feel left out. Suggest detailed, age-appropriate open-ended questions—aiming for honest answers that are easy for young kids to understand.
Next, organize and refine:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Once you've got your categories, explore deeper:
Generate 10 questions for categories ‘classroom activities’, ‘friendship’, and ‘school events’.
With this approach, you can build a survey that’s both tailored and comprehensive—or let Specific’s survey generator do it for you with a single click.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey feels like a chat—not a test. Instead of just blasting questions, we ask, listen, and respond to what the student shares—making every answer feel personal and relevant.
Manual survey creation can be slow, tedious, and limiting. You have to brainstorm questions, copy/paste, hope you’ve considered all the possibilities, and worry about analysis later. Specific’s AI survey builder is different: it rapidly generates a conversational survey optimized for your audience and goals, probes for context, and structures everything for easy analysis.
Manual Survey Creation | AI-Generated Survey (Conversational) |
|---|---|
Static, rigid question order | Dynamic follow-ups based on real answers |
Difficult to create and customize | Easy, fast—just describe what you need |
Slow, manual analysis | Instant AI insights, summaries, and theme extraction |
Easily skipped or rushed answers | Feels like a friendly conversation—more engagement |
Why use AI for elementary school student surveys? Younger kids don’t want to fill out boring forms. An AI survey example starts a conversation, adapts in real time, and makes every student feel heard. For staff, it’s less work, and you get easier, more powerful analysis in seconds. Learn more about how to create an inclusion survey with AI and Specific.
With best-in-class conversational survey experience, Specific makes gathering feedback smooth and engaging for both educators and students.
See this feeling included survey example now
Get inspired by this AI survey example for inclusion—and see firsthand how easy it is to generate actionable, nuanced feedback from your students instantly. Create your own, and discover smarter insights with adaptive follow-ups and rapid AI analysis.