Here are some of the best questions for a parent survey about teacher engagement, plus tips on how to make your questionnaire truly insightful. You can build your own conversational survey in seconds using Specific—let’s dive in.

Best open-ended questions for parent survey about teacher engagement

If you want to get honest, detailed feedback, open-ended questions are the way to go. They let parents share their unique experiences—something a checkbox just can’t capture. Open-ended questions shine when you need to dig deeper into attitudes or suggestions, or when you’re not sure what issues might surface. Sure, you might see a slightly higher nonresponse rate with unstructured prompts (around 18%) [1], but the richness of responses makes up for it—and most parents still like to add comments.

1. What’s one thing your child’s teacher does that makes you feel especially positive about your child’s education?

2. Can you describe an example when a teacher made a real difference for your child?

3. What communication methods work best for you when staying updated on your child’s progress?

4. How could teachers improve their engagement with parents?

5. In your view, what’s missing in the way teachers involve families in classroom activities?

6. Describe a time when you felt included—or excluded—in your child's learning process.

7. What changes would encourage you to collaborate more with your child’s teachers?

8. If you have multiple children, do you notice differences in teacher engagement? Please explain.

9. What topics do you wish teachers would communicate more about?

10. What advice would you give teachers to strengthen their partnership with parents?

Studies show only 20% of U.S. parents are fully engaged with their child's school [3], so designing questions that invite detailed input can help close that gap and drive meaningful improvements in teacher-parent connections.

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for parent survey about teacher engagement

Single-select multiple-choice questions work well when you want structured, quantifiable feedback—or when you want to break the ice with quick, easy questions. Sometimes, it’s less daunting for respondents to select an option than to type out a paragraph, and this can help you get the conversation started for deeper follow-up.

Here are a few strong examples for a parent survey about teacher engagement:

Question: How satisfied are you with the level of communication from your child’s teacher?

• Very satisfied

• Somewhat satisfied

• Somewhat dissatisfied

• Very dissatisfied

Question: Which channel do you prefer for communicating with teachers?

• Email

• Phone call

• Classroom app or portal

• In-person meetings

• Other

Question: How often do teachers invite you to participate in classroom or school-wide activities?

• Frequently

• Occasionally

• Rarely

• Never

When to follow up with "why?" Whenever you want to dig a little deeper or clarify a response, ask "why?" after a multiple-choice answer. For example, if a parent chooses "Somewhat dissatisfied" in the first question, a follow-up like “What specific improvements would help you feel more supported?” can reveal actionable insights.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always consider offering "Other" for questions about preferences or communication channels. Follow up with “Please specify,” as this can surface insights you didn’t anticipate, giving voice to experiences that standard options might miss.

NPS question for parent survey about teacher engagement

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) isn’t just for business—it’s a powerful tool for schools, too. It gauges parent sentiment in a single question: “How likely are you to recommend your child’s teacher or school to another parent?” The resulting score is a simple but effective temperature check, helping you spot advocates and identify detractors.

NPS works well for parent surveys about teacher engagement because it’s fast, familiar, and benchmarks satisfaction. You can instantly generate an NPS survey for parents about teacher engagement right in Specific—and tailor the follow-ups based on the score to unlock deeper reasons behind parent ratings. This makes it actionable fast, whether you're a school leader or classroom teacher.

The power of follow-up questions

Good surveys don't just ask—they listen. That’s why automated follow-up questions matter so much. We designed Specific’s AI follow-up feature to probe like an expert in real time, based on each response’s content—not just canned logic. Whether you’re running a parent survey or interviewing customers, follow-ups make every reply clearer and more actionable.

• Parent: “Teachers communicate, but it always feels rushed.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you give an example of a recent rushed communication? How did it affect your understanding or involvement?”

If you didn’t ask a follow-up here, you’d miss the root issue—so you wouldn’t know whether the answer points to timing, tone, or frequency.

How many followups to ask? Usually, two to three follow-ups give you a full picture without exhausting the respondent. The key is to set boundaries: with Specific, you can let the AI know to skip ahead once enough detail is collected, so the survey stays efficient and respectful.

This makes it a conversational survey: Rather than a cold form, your survey becomes a back-and-forth exchange. Parents feel heard, and you get richer responses—win-win.

Easy AI-powered analysis. Even with tons of long-form feedback, analyzing survey responses is now simple. Tools like AI survey response analysis distill themes and key takeaways instantly—no manual coding required.

Try generating a survey with auto followups and see for yourself how smooth the process feels for both creator and respondents.

How to prompt ChatGPT or AI to generate great questions

If you want to use AI tools like ChatGPT to craft questions, start with a simple request:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for parent survey about teacher engagement.

You’ll get better results with a bit more background. Give the AI details about your school, goals, or challenges for a tailored response:

We’re a K-8 school aiming to boost parent-teacher collaboration. Our goal is to uncover parents’ true feelings about communication, classroom involvement, and their overall experience. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for a parent survey about teacher engagement.

Next, organize the output:

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

Then, pick the categories you need deeper insight on—for example, communication frequency or parent inclusion—and prompt:

Generate 10 questions for categories classroom communication and inclusion in activities.

Spending a few extra minutes in the prompting stage dramatically improves your results.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey flips the script on traditional forms. Instead of a static set of boxes, it’s a chat—one question at a time, with dynamic follow-ups based on real answers. This approach feels natural, keeps parents engaged, and helps you gather context-rich stories, not just surface-level stats.

Building your survey with an AI survey maker changes the game: you get professional-quality questions, conversational flow, and the ability to easily tweak your survey using natural language. Check out Specific’s AI survey editor for an even smoother workflow.

Why use AI for parent surveys? Because engagement matters: parents who feel heard are more likely to participate in their child’s education, which research shows leads to better outcomes [1]. AI-driven surveys help you spot trends, catch issues early, and provide every respondent with an experience that feels personal and meaningful. For inspiration or hands-on tips, see our guide on how to create a parent survey about teacher engagement.

Specific sets the gold standard for conversational survey experience, giving both creators and respondents a frictionless way to share and act on feedback—no technical headaches, just real insights.

See this teacher engagement survey example now

Try a teacher engagement conversational survey firsthand—see how Specific blends smart AI follow-ups, deep qualitative insights, and slick user experience into one seamless package. Get actionable parent feedback that helps your school thrive.