Best questions for teacher survey about parent communication

Here are some of the best questions for a teacher survey about parent communication, plus tips on crafting impactful surveys. You can build such a survey in seconds with Specific, our expert AI survey builder that saves time and boosts quality responses.

Best open-ended questions for teacher survey about parent communication

Open-ended questions reveal insights you’d never get from just ticking boxes. These survey questions let teachers share stories and highlight pain points or best practices in their own words. While open-ended formats can have higher nonresponse rates—Pew Research found up to 18% on average, and even over 50% for some—nearly 60% of responses to these questions surface feedback missing from closed answers [1][2]. Used thoughtfully, open-ended questions spark candid feedback, especially on nuanced topics like parent-teacher communication.

1. Can you describe your overall experience communicating with parents this year?

2. What strategies have you found most effective for keeping parents informed?

3. What challenges do you face when trying to involve parents in classroom activities?

4. How do you handle communication with parents who are harder to reach?

5. Can you share a specific example of a positive parent interaction?

6. What information do you wish parents shared with you more often?

7. How would you improve the communication channels between teachers and parents?

8. What barriers do you see that make it difficult to communicate with parents?

9. How do you adapt your communication for parents from diverse backgrounds or with different languages?

10. What support or resources would help you communicate better with families?

To balance survey length and response quality, keep open-ended questions to about 10% of total questions as best practice [3]. This helps you get depth without overwhelming teachers.

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

Single-select multiple-choice questions make it easy to quantify opinions and spot trends fast. They lower survey fatigue, often leading to higher response rates than open questions [1]. They’re perfect for moments when you want quick comparisons or to start a conversation, especially if teachers are short on time but still want their voices heard.

Question: Which method do you use most often to communicate with parents?

• Email

• Phone call

• Messaging app (e.g., Remind, ClassDojo)

• School portal

• Paper notes

• In-person meetings

• Other

Question: How satisfied are you with the effectiveness of current communication tools provided by your school?

• Very satisfied

• Satisfied

• Neutral

• Dissatisfied

• Very dissatisfied

Question: What is the biggest challenge you face when communicating with parents?

• Lack of time

• Language barriers

• Low parent engagement

• Technology issues

• Other

When to follow up with "why?" It's smart to dig deeper right after a select answer—if someone says they’re "dissatisfied," ask “Why?” Their context can unlock actionable improvements. For example, a teacher who’s “dissatisfied” with tools might clarify, "Our portal is hard for parents to navigate."

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always add "Other" when your set list might miss some realities. That "Other" option plus a follow-up lets teachers share insights or edge cases you never expected, so you aren’t boxed in by pre-set assumptions.

NPS question for teacher survey about parent communication

NPS, or Net Promoter Score, is a simple but powerful way to measure loyalty and satisfaction. You ask, "How likely are you to recommend the current parent communication practices at your school to other teachers?" with a 0-10 scale. It quickly benchmarks overall sentiment, making it easy to track change or spot trouble early. In the context of teacher surveys about parent communication, NPS lets you zero in on advocacy and potential for improvements in school-home relationships. You can generate an NPS survey for teachers with just one click using Specific.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions are where things get really interesting. Instead of a static list of queries, you can create conversational surveys that react to each answer. It’s not just about gathering more data—it’s about understanding the “why” behind the “what.” Studies show that follow-up designs produce longer, more comprehensive answers and touch on more nuanced themes than traditional formats [4]. Specific builds on this with automated follow-up questions powered by AI—think of it as having an expert researcher in every survey.

• Teacher: "I mostly use email to contact parents."

• AI follow-up: "Can you tell me why email works best for you, and if there are any drawbacks you've noticed?"

Without this follow-up, you might never discover that emails go unread or that language barriers exist.

How many follow-ups to ask? Generally, 2-3 layered follow-ups are enough to unlock the story behind a response. You can always set a limit or customize how persistent the AI gets—Specific lets you fine-tune this so teachers don’t feel overwhelmed but you still get depth.

This makes it a conversational survey—it feels less like a form and more like a chat, keeping things both engaging and efficient.

AI analysis of survey responses is a game-changer. Even with a lot of unstructured text, it’s now fast and reliable to analyze responses using AI. Themes, insights, and outliers pop right out—no manual sifting needed.

Automated follow-ups are a new way to get feedback—try generating your own survey to see how seamless it feels.

How to compose a prompt for ChatGPT or other GPTs to generate great teacher survey questions about parent communication

If you want to come up with hard-hitting questions, prompt-based AI is a great tool. Start with a simple ask:

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

The AI always gives better results if you provide context about yourself, your school, challenges, and what you aim to achieve. Here’s a stronger prompt example:

We’re a K-12 school looking to improve parent-teacher relationships. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for a teacher survey about parent communication, prioritizing inclusion and actionable insights.

Next up, try organizing and refining:

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

Pick the areas that matter most to you, then go deeper:

Generate 10 detailed questions focused on the categories of “challenges in parent engagement,” “effective tools,” and “communication barriers.”

This iterative method quickly leads to a targeted, highly relevant survey.

What is a conversational survey?

Conversational surveys are a new paradigm that makes surveys more engaging by mimicking a real conversation rather than just pushing forms. Unlike traditional static forms, these AI-driven surveys will ask additional clarification and probing questions in real time, depending on the respondent’s answer. This approach dramatically increases engagement and gives you richer, more actionable insights. Research shows an AI chatbot survey produces more detailed, specific, and relevant answers—and drives higher participation and data quality [5].

Why use AI for teacher surveys? Besides speed, AI adapts to every response, ensuring you don’t miss important context. With an AI survey example (especially a conversational survey built in Specific), the process feels natural to busy teachers. You gather richer qualitative data, and you use automated analysis to uncover takeaways—no manual spreadsheet wrangling needed.

Our platform stands out because Specific offers the best-in-class AI survey builder experience in conversational surveys, helping both survey creators and teacher-respondents feel heard and empowered. If you want guidance on making a survey, follow our step-by-step guide: how to create a teacher survey about parent communication.

See this parent communication survey example now

Create your own conversational teacher survey about parent communication in seconds and start collecting valuable, actionable feedback—effortlessly, with deeper insights every time.