Here are some of the best questions for a teacher survey about class size, plus tips for crafting surveys that actually get great insights. If you’d like to build this type of conversational survey instantly, you can generate a custom survey using Specific.
Best open-ended questions for teacher class size surveys
Open-ended questions are gold for teacher surveys about class size—they help us collect rich, qualitative data that we’d never get from a list of fixed choices. Respondents can speak in their own words, giving us context and opening the door for surprising insights and deeper engagement. That said, there are some demographic groups that are less likely to answer these questions at length, which is why it’s important to use a balance of question types. For most contexts, these open-ended questions lead to the most thoughtful and thorough answers about class size challenges, classroom management, and what really matters to teachers. [1][2]
How does your current class size affect your ability to manage the classroom effectively?
What are the biggest challenges you face when teaching larger classes?
Can you share an example of how class size has influenced student outcomes in your teaching experience?
How does class size impact your ability to provide individualized attention?
In your experience, what is the ideal class size for maximizing student learning and engagement?
Have you adopted any strategies to address the challenges of large classes? What works best for you?
What changes (if any) would you suggest regarding class size in your school or district?
How does class size affect your workload and stress levels?
What support or resources would help you better manage larger classes?
If there were no constraints, how would you design your classroom size and structure?
Open-ended questions help us uncover unexpected insights and spot trends that closed questions just can’t reach. They also keep teachers more engaged, as they feel heard, not just counted. [1][2]
Best multiple-choice questions for teacher class size surveys
Single-select multiple-choice questions make it easy to quantify key trends and start clearer conversations, especially when respondents might not have the energy or time for longer written answers. They’re great for establishing baselines and finding topics worth probing with a smart follow-up. For example, teachers can quickly classify their main concerns about class size, which we can then investigate further with open-ended or follow-up questions using a conversational survey tool like Specific.
Question: How satisfied are you with your current class size?
Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
Neutral
Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Question: What do you believe is the optimal class size for effective teaching in your subject?
10–15 students
16–20 students
21–25 students
26–30 students
More than 30 students
Other
Question: In your experience, how often does class size hinder your ability to differentiate instruction?
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
Always
When to follow up with "why?" Often, we want more than just a number or category—we want to know why a teacher feels dissatisfied, or what makes a certain class size optimal for them. If a respondent selects "Very dissatisfied" with class size, a smart follow-up question like “Can you elaborate on what makes your current class size challenging?” lets us dig into the real factors behind their selection.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? If your question might not cover everyone’s situation, always offer an "Other" choice. This allows for follow-up questions that can uncover unexpected insights—maybe there’s a class format or challenge you hadn’t considered, and those stories only come out when respondents aren’t forced into your predefined categories.
NPS question for teacher class size surveys
NPS (Net Promoter Score) isn’t just for customers—you can use it with teacher surveys about class size to measure advocacy, loyalty, and overall satisfaction with classroom environments. An NPS-style question asks, “How likely are you to recommend your current class size and environment to a colleague?” The result gives you a clear, numeric indicator, while follow-ups can reveal the reasons behind strong or weak advocacy.
If you want to see what this looks like, visit our dedicated NPS survey generator for teacher class size.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions are the secret weapon in conversational surveys. Instead of leaving answers vague and unhelpful, they let us probe deeper in real time—getting to the story behind every "yes," "no," or "other." Recent field studies show that AI chatbots that ask targeted follow-ups drive higher engagement, clarity, and specificity in responses compared to traditional forms. [5] That’s why Specific’s automated followup questions feature is a huge leap forward for anyone running teacher class size surveys.
With Specific, the AI asks smart, conversational follow-ups based on each response. If a teacher answers vaguely, the system can clarify and extract details just like a human interviewer—without anyone needing to manually follow up by email or phone (and hoping for a reply weeks later).
Teacher: “Sometimes my class is just too big.”
AI follow-up: “Can you describe a specific situation where the large class size created a challenge for you?”
How many followups to ask? Usually, 2–3 well-placed follow-ups are enough to get rich detail, as long as you allow respondents to skip to the next question once you’ve got what you need. With Specific, you can configure these settings easily in the survey builder.
This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of feeling like an interrogation, every survey feels like a two-way chat—making teachers more willing to share honest details.
Easy analysis with AI: Even if you collect tons of free-text responses, AI-powered survey response analysis makes it simple. You can instantly summarize, categorize, and chat with the data, so you don’t need to read through every response by hand.
Curious how it works in action? Try the AI-powered survey generator—see how automated followup questions make every conversation smarter and easier.
How to prompt ChatGPT (or GPTs) for great teacher class size survey questions
If you prefer drafting questions using generative AI like ChatGPT, prompts are key. Here’s a basic starting prompt:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for teacher survey about class size.
But you’ll get better results if you add context—describe yourself, your goal (is it about reducing burnout? Improving engagement?), school type, or anything else relevant:
I am creating a survey for middle school teachers who recently experienced an increase in class sizes. Suggest 10 open-ended questions, focused on understanding how the change has affected their teaching, workload, and student engagement.
To organize your questions by theme, ask:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Review the categories, pick your focus, and prompt again:
Generate 10 questions for the categories: classroom management, student engagement, and resources needed.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey is an AI-powered feedback tool that makes surveys feel like natural chats. Instead of overwhelming teachers with a static form, the survey adapts in real time—responding to answers, probing deeper with tailored follow-up questions, and eliminating dead ends. This approach increases participation rates and improves the quality of insights—something strongly supported by field research. [5]
Here’s how manual and AI-generated surveys stack up:
Manual Surveys | AI-Generated Conversational Surveys |
|---|---|
Static, requires manual editing for each question | Dynamic, instantly generates (and updates) surveys using natural language |
One-size-fits-all, no contextual followups | Adapts questions and follows up based on each answer |
Often requires additional outreach for clarification | Clarifies and digs deeper automatically—with no extra effort from the creator |
Cumbersome to analyze open-ended responses | AI summarizes, groups insights, and enables chat-based analysis |
Why use AI for teacher surveys? With AI, you unlock higher engagement, better data, and less manual effort—in both creation and analysis. Try an AI survey example on class size and you’ll see how much easier it is to collect and use teacher feedback this way. From instant survey creation in the AI survey builder to best-in-class conversational experiences, Specific makes it smooth for teachers and researchers alike.
Unlike old-school, static forms, AI-powered surveys can be created or edited simply by chatting (see AI survey editor), and then launched in moments. This means faster iteration, more effective engagement, and better-quality outcomes—every time.
See this class size survey example now
Don’t miss the opportunity to create your own conversational class size survey for teachers—get high-quality, nuanced insights and enjoy an effortless survey creation experience only from a modern AI tool.