Best questions for parent survey about communication preferences

Here are some of the best questions for a parent survey about communication preferences, plus tips for crafting them. If you're ready to generate your own, Specific can help you build a conversational survey in seconds—just build your parent communication survey here.

Best open-ended questions for parent surveys about communication preferences

Open-ended questions invite honest, detailed feedback—perfect for surfacing issues or insights you might otherwise miss. They're especially valuable when you want genuine opinions or to discover new ideas through conversational surveys. These questions let parents elaborate, giving richer responses than a simple “yes” or “no.” And with AI-powered tools, analyzing open-text answers is simple and efficient—AI can reduce analysis time by up to 70% compared to manual review. [2]

1. What’s your preferred way to receive updates about school news or events?

2. Can you describe a time when school communication worked especially well for you?

3. What communication methods haven’t worked for you, and why?

4. How would you like us to improve the way we communicate?

5. Are there topics you’d like to receive more information about from the school?

6. Tell us about the most convenient time of day for you to check school communications.

7. What could we do to ensure our messages are clear and easy to understand?

8. Is there a particular staff member or department you wish communicated more often?

9. Share an example of a message you found particularly helpful or unhelpful.

10. What barriers, if any, prevent you from engaging with school communication?

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for parent surveys about communication preferences

Single-select questions help quantify preferences and make participation easy. They work best for quickly getting a sense of patterns or for starting a conversation before diving deeper with follow-up questions. Many parents, for example, overwhelmingly favor email: 92.2% prefer newsletters, and 90.9% appreciate emails with web links. [3] These preferences shape which choices you should offer.

Here are practical examples for your survey:

Question: Which channel do you prefer for school communication the most?

• Email newsletter

• Text message (SMS/WhatsApp)

• School website

• Printed letter

• Other

Question: How often would you like to receive updates?

• Once a week

• Twice a month

• Only for important announcements

Question: What time of day is most convenient for receiving messages?

• Morning (7–10am)

• Afternoon (12–3pm)

• Evening (6–9pm)

When to followup with “why?” Often, when parents select a preferred channel or timing, the true reason isn’t obvious. That’s the ideal moment to follow up with a simple “Why?” or “What makes that your top choice?” For example, if a parent chooses “Email newsletter,” a good follow-up: “Why is an email newsletter more convenient for you than other channels?” It helps you understand specific needs, and AI-powered follow-up ensures you get this feedback conversationally and automatically (learn about automated follow-up questions).

When and why to add the “Other” choice? Include “Other” when you want to avoid missing unique preferences. A follow-up (“Please specify what other channel you prefer”) can surface less common, but valuable, ways parents want to hear from you—like direct app notifications or community groups.

NPS-style question for parent surveys about communication preferences

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a classic and powerful technique to measure parent satisfaction with school communication. It asks parents how likely they are to recommend your school's communication style to others, on a scale from 0–10. For communication preference surveys, it pinpoints advocates, neutrals, and critics—enabling targeted improvements. NPS is easy to benchmark and proven in many sectors. To see how this works for parent surveys, use the NPS survey generator for parent communication.

The power of follow-up questions

Great surveys are truly conversations—especially with parents who want to be heard, not just polled. Follow-up questions surface the “why” and “how” behind parent choices or frustrations. Tools like Specific automate these in real-time, so you never miss a rich insight. With automatic AI follow-ups, parents feel listened to, and you get actionable context, not just stats. This approach boosts clarity and saves huge amounts of time compared to follow-up emails or phone calls—especially since AI adapts in the moment, just like a skilled interviewer.

• Parent: “I don’t always see your emails.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you share what makes emails easy to miss for you?”

How many followups to ask? In most cases, 2–3 follow-ups are optimal. It ensures depth without exhausting your respondents. You can also configure settings in Specific to jump ahead or continue depending on how complete the parent’s response is.

This makes it a conversational survey: You engage parents in natural back-and-forth, not a static form—resulting in more honest, complete answers.

AI response analysis, themes, and summaries: With powerful built-in analysis from platforms like Specific’s AI survey analysis, you’re never overwhelmed by free-text. AI easily sorts, summarizes, and flags key themes from all responses (see the analysis guide).

Try generating a survey yourself to see how dynamic follow-ups create deeper parent conversations.

How to compose a prompt for AI to draft parent communication preference questions

If you want to get great questions using ChatGPT or another AI, start with a clear, focused prompt to get a useful draft. Begin broad:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for parent survey about communication preferences.

The result gets even better with context—explain your audience and what you want to achieve:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for parents of school-aged children about their communication preferences, focusing on both digital and offline channels. Aim to discover which channels are effective and areas for improvement in frequency, tone, and timing.

To organize your questions, follow up:

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

Finally, dig deeper into critical categories by asking:

Generate 10 questions for the category “preferred communication channels and timing.”

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey blends smart questions, live AI-driven follow-ups, and context awareness to create a feedback session that feels like a real chat—not a cold form. AI survey examples show how the flow adapts in real time. Unlike traditional surveys, where respondents pick fixed options or type in blank boxes, conversational surveys guide parents naturally, asking clarifying questions or probing deeper where it matters.

Why use AI for parent surveys? AI surveys radically improve parent engagement, response rates, and the richness of your data. Specific delivers industry-leading conversational experiences—making both the survey creation and response process smooth, quick, and engaging. Whether you’re drawing from an AI survey generator or building from scratch, the advantage is immediate. To learn more, check out this comprehensive how-to guide for creating parent communication surveys.

See this Communication Preferences survey example now

Now’s the time to see a real conversational survey in action—experience how quickly you can unlock honest, in-depth feedback from parents. Bring clarity and insight to your family communications today by using smart, adaptable surveys that work for everyone.