Best questions for student survey about inclusion

Here are some of the best questions for a student survey about inclusion, plus actionable tips on crafting them. If you want to instantly build your own inclusion survey, Specific can guide you every step of the way.

The best open-ended questions for student survey about inclusion

Open-ended questions prompt students to share their authentic experiences and perspectives in their own words—a proven approach for capturing deeper, more meaningful insights. For example, research found that 76% of respondents were motivated to add extra comments when given the chance, showing students are eager to express what matters to them if invited. [1] Open-ended questions serve best when you want to go beyond surface-level opinions and discover stories or emotions behind responses.

1. How included do you feel in your daily classes and school activities? Please explain your experience.

2. Can you describe a time when you felt especially welcomed or valued at school?

3. Have you ever felt left out or excluded in a classroom or school setting? What happened?

4. What does an inclusive classroom mean to you?

5. How do teachers and classmates help (or hinder) a feeling of belonging at school?

6. If you could change one thing to make your school more inclusive, what would it be?

7. Are there any barriers that make it difficult for you (or others) to participate fully in school life?

8. What helps you feel safe and accepted at school?

9. Do you have suggestions for new activities, programs, or changes to help everyone feel included?

10. Can you share a story about someone being particularly inclusive or supportive at school?

While open-ended questions are powerful, they can sometimes produce higher nonresponse rates, with some questions seeing up to 50% nonresponse compared to just 1–2% for closed questions. [2] That’s why it’s important to keep them clear, relevant, and not overload your survey with too many at once. For more guidance, we break down the best practices for crafting student inclusion surveys in our how-to guide.

The best single-select multiple-choice questions for student survey about inclusion

Single-select multiple-choice questions are a great way to get measurable insights and are especially useful if you want to spot trends across a large group—or simply make it easier for students to share quick opinions that spark deeper conversation later. Sometimes, it’s much easier to choose from a few clear options than to write a full explanation, especially for students who may be hesitant or short on time.

Here are three practical multiple-choice questions:

Question: In your classes, how often do you feel included?

• Always

• Often

• Sometimes

• Rarely

• Never

Question: Which school spaces make you feel most comfortable and included?

• Classroom

• Playground

• Library

• School cafeteria

• Other

Question: When you see someone being treated unfairly or excluded, what do you usually do?

• Speak up and support them

• Talk to an adult

• Stay quiet

• Not sure

When to follow up with "why?" Single-select questions are a great way to start, but they often leave you wanting to know more. Whenever you spot a strong opinion (“Never” or “Always”), or want to uncover the reason behind a choice (“Stay quiet”), adding a followup “Why did you choose this answer?” can reveal motivations and context you’d otherwise miss. For example, when a student answers “I usually stay quiet,” you might ask, “Why do you prefer to remain quiet in those situations?”

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Whenever the listed options might not cover every reality, include “Other.” A follow-up allows students to share new answers you hadn’t anticipated—sometimes leading to your biggest discoveries about inclusion in your school.

NPS-style question for student inclusion surveys

NPS (Net Promoter Score) measures how likely someone is to recommend a school or classroom as inclusive, using a 0-10 rating scale. Why use NPS here? Because it produces a simple, trackable score, allowing you to benchmark changes in students’ sense of inclusion over time. Plus, NPS questions are familiar, straightforward for students of all ages, and easy to follow up: ask what could make that score higher for students who answer in the lower range. We explored an NPS survey example for student inclusion if you want to see it in action.

The power of follow-up questions

Great conversations don’t stop at the first answer. That’s why AI-driven followups can make every survey more like a real chat—collecting richer stories and clarifying anything left unsaid. We dive deep into this on our automatic AI followup questions page.

Specific’s AI is designed to ask smart, on-the-fly follow-ups responding directly to what a student just said. That means it can ask for more detail, clarify an ambiguous response, or explore why a student feels a certain way—all in real time, just like a human interviewer. For educators or administrators who might otherwise need to send endless emails to dig deeper, this saves hours and results in far more actionable data. Conversation flows naturally, and it’s all handled live by the AI.

• Student: “Sometimes I feel left out at recess.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you tell me what happens during recess that makes you feel left out?”

How many followups to ask? Usually, 2-3 followup questions are enough to understand a situation without making the survey feel tedious. Specific offers settings to control this, so you collect enough details but can always move to the next question when you’ve got the insight you need.

This makes it a conversational survey: the result is a survey that feels more like a genuine conversation than a cold checklist, building trust and increasing the odds that students open up.

Analyzing qualitative data: AI makes analyzing rich, text-heavy student responses effortless—read more on our AI-powered response analysis guide. You can sift through complex stories and spot trends faster than ever, even when responses aren’t neatly structured.

These automated follow-ups might be new to you, but once you generate your own survey and witness the smooth flow of a real interview, you’ll see the difference instantly.

How to create better prompts for AI-generated student inclusion surveys

If you’re using ChatGPT or another AI survey generator, how you structure your prompt shapes the quality of your survey. A quick prompt like this gets you started:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for student survey about inclusion.

But AI responds best when you set the scene. Give context about your students, school setting, or what you want to learn. Here’s how it could look:

We are surveying students from middle and high schools about their sense of inclusion at school, focusing on classroom involvement, peer interactions, and participation barriers. Suggest 10 open-ended questions that encourage students to share their experiences.

Once you’ve got a set of questions, you can organize them with:

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

And then target categories that matter most to you:

Generate 10 questions for categories ‘Classroom experience’ and ‘Peer relationships’.

The more background and intention you provide, the more specific, nuanced and valuable the AI-generated questions become.

What is a conversational survey—and why it’s different

A conversational survey, especially when powered by AI, is interactive—it adapts, asks followups, clarifies confusion, and flows naturally, just like talking with a researcher. This isn’t your typical “tick the box” survey experience.

Why use AI for student surveys?
AI-generated surveys, like the conversational AI survey examples you can create with Specific, let you design better questions in less time and reach students wherever they already communicate—on their phone, tablet, or computer. Specific’s survey builder is focused on user experience: students feel heard, survey creators save time, and the feedback you collect is richer and more actionable. This is how you make truly inclusive student voice a reality.

If you want to see step-by-step how to create a student survey about inclusion, we’ve outlined the easiest process with real examples.

See this inclusion survey example now

Start your own student inclusion survey today—unlock deeper conversations, actionable insights, and a more welcoming school climate with the power of conversational, AI-powered surveys.