Best questions for middle school student survey about behavior and discipline

Here are some of the best questions for a middle school student survey about behavior and discipline, plus tips for crafting them. You can build your own survey with Specific in seconds—AI does the heavy lifting, so you get insights fast.

Best open-ended questions for behavior and discipline surveys

Open-ended questions are powerful when you want deeper stories, specific examples, or honest student views. They let students share what’s actually on their mind, with rich details—not just a checkbox. This approach is especially useful when understanding school behavior, discipline concerns, and classroom climate, where nuances matter. Given that teachers spend up to 30% of class time managing behavior [1], hearing direct student experiences can inform much-needed improvements. Here’s a mix of the best questions:

1. Can you describe a time when you saw someone being disciplined at school? What happened, and how did it make you feel?

2. What do you think are the main reasons students get into trouble at our school?

3. In your opinion, how fair are the rules and punishments here?

4. Have you ever felt punished unfairly? Can you tell us about that experience?

5. What classroom behavior makes it easiest for you to learn? What behavior makes it harder?

6. If you could change one thing about how discipline works at school, what would it be?

7. How do teachers or staff usually respond when students break the rules? Is there something you wish was different?

8. What advice would you give new students about behaving or following rules here?

9. How do you feel when you see classmates receive rewards or recognition for good behavior?

10. What do you think would help students behave better at school?

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for student behavior and discipline

Multiple-choice (single-select) questions work well when you want to quantify student sentiment, quickly spot patterns, or break the ice for more detailed follow-up questions. Sometimes, picking from a list is less stressful and gets students engaged faster, plus you get clear data to analyze. For example, with 62% of U.S. public schools applying zero-tolerance policies—often unevenly [2]—it’s vital to track how students actually perceive discipline and fairness.

Question: When students are disciplined at your school, do you think the punishment is usually:

• Too harsh

• About right

• Too lenient

• Other

Question: How safe do you feel in the classroom?

• Very safe

• Somewhat safe

• Not safe

Question: Which of these do you think causes the most disruptions at school?

• Bullying

• Fighting

• Disrespect for teachers

• Classmates not following rules

• Other

When to follow up with “why?” After a student selects an option—especially on “too harsh,” “not safe,” or “other”—always follow up with “why?” or “Can you tell us more?” This builds conversation and uncovers real context, like whether certain groups are disciplined differently.

When and why to add the “Other” choice? Use “Other” any time your options might miss something important, or you want unexpected perspectives. Follow up with “What would you add or change?”—sometimes the most valuable insights come from the unfiltered answers you didn’t anticipate.

NPS-type questions for student discipline surveys

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) isn’t just for brands—it’s a proven way to measure student loyalty, trust, and overall satisfaction with the school’s behavioral climate. Try an adapted NPS-style question: “On a scale from 0–10, how likely are you to recommend our school to a friend, based on how discipline and behavior are handled?” This single question tells you a lot about overall climate—and with the right follow-up (“What’s the main reason for your score?”), you’ll know whether students feel supported or singled out. Want to see it in action? You can generate an NPS discipline survey for students instantly.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions are where the gold lives. When a student’s answer is short, unclear, or unexpected, asking the right follow-up helps you clarify, dig deeper, and understand the true “why”—which is where the best insights hide. If you want to see how this works in practice, check out our article on automated follow-up questions and how they improve feedback quality.

Specific’s AI handles these follow-ups automatically. The AI listens to each student’s reply, then asks smart, relevant probes in real time—just like a skillful interviewer would. Instead of requiring teachers or admins to email for clarification afterward, these follow-ups save hours and lead to clearer, richer responses—all while feeling more like a conversation than a form.

• Student: “I don’t always feel safe.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you share what makes you feel unsafe? Is it something in class, in the hallways, or somewhere else?”

How many follow-ups to ask? Usually, 2–3 follow-ups get you to the full story. It’s important to balance depth with fatigue, so a setting (like in Specific) to “skip to the next question” once you have what you need keeps things comfortable for students and efficient for you.

This makes it a conversational survey: The flow feels less like a test and more like a real conversation—which is why students answer with greater honesty and detail.

AI survey analysis, fast: Even if you collect hundreds of long-form answers, analyzing them isn’t a problem—tools like Specific’s AI survey analysis digest and summarize all open-ended feedback, helping you pinpoint trends without wading through endless text.

Automated follow-ups are a game-changer—try generating a conversational survey and see how engaging it can be for both you and your students.

How to prompt AI for better survey questions

When you use AI tools—like ChatGPT or an AI survey builder—you get the best questions if your prompt is clear and specific. Start with something simple:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for a middle school student survey about behavior and discipline.

If you tell the AI more about your goals or context, it performs even better. For instance:

We want students to feel safe sharing honest feedback, and we’re interested in both classroom and hallway behavior issues. Please suggest tailored questions to help us learn what students feel, what discipline seems fair or unfair, and how students suggest improving things.

After you generate questions, structure them for clarity:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Next, focus on the most valuable categories—maybe “Fairness of Rules” or “Causes of Disruption”—and ask:

Generate 10 questions for the category “Classroom Fairness and Disciplinary Consistency”.

This approach makes it easy to create sophisticated surveys with AI, without guesswork.

What is a conversational survey?

Traditional surveys are static—you set the questions, get rigid answers, then sift through vague responses (or, worse, skipped questions). In contrast, an AI survey example powered by Specific is dynamic. You start with smart questions, but the AI conversationally guides every respondent, digging deeper right when it matters most, then summarizes all results for you. Here’s a quick comparison:

Why use AI for middle school student surveys? Because AI survey builders, like the one from Specific, ensure you never miss an insight—even if the initial answer is vague or surprising. An AI survey example brings clarity, depth, and honest stories from all students, not just the loudest voices.

If you want the smoothest possible feedback experience for both you and your students, Specific’s conversational surveys lead the pack. Students engage more, you collect higher-quality feedback, and you can focus on action—not data wrangling. Learn step-by-step in this guide on how to create a student survey about behavior and discipline, and see what makes conversational survey tools unique.

See this behavior and discipline survey example now

Take the next step—see a conversational survey in action and experience how AI-driven, real-time follow-ups can change the way you understand student behavior and discipline. Dive deeper, make smarter changes, and get insights you can trust.