This article will guide you on how to create a Parent survey about Communication Preferences—fast, smart, and with real insight. With Specific, you can generate a tailored parent communication survey in seconds. Build your survey now.
Steps to create a survey for parents about communication preferences
If you want to save time, just generate a survey with Specific—no complicated setup, just results. Creating parent surveys with AI is easier than ever. Here’s all you do:
Tell what survey you want.
Done.
You don’t even need to read further. AI surveys instantly give you expert-level questions and interactive follow-ups that dig deeper for real insights. Specific makes everything seamless—try the AI survey generator if you want to build something completely from scratch.
Why parent communication preference surveys matter
If you’re not already checking in regularly with parents about how they want to communicate, you’re missing out on data that could transform your school’s outreach and relationships. We see time and again that assumptions lead to gaps and misunderstandings.
The numbers speak for themselves: 77% of K-12 families recognize the importance of school-home communication, but 33% still feel uninformed about their child’s progress [1]. That’s a huge gap—and it’s actionable. When schools don’t survey parents, opportunities to close these gaps and create a more cohesive community are lost.
Regularly surveying parents has real benefits:
Uncovers which information channels work best (email, text, portal, phone)...and which don’t
Reveals how often families wish to be contacted (surprisingly, 69% want daily or weekly updates, but only 52% get them [1])
Gives parents a stake in how information flows—fostering transparency and boosting engagement
This is the “why” behind running a parent feedback survey about communication preferences: it’s about matching your outreach to actual needs. And the payoff? More engaged parents, fewer missed messages, and students who benefit from adults working in sync.
What makes a good survey on communication preferences
A strong parent survey digs for clarity without bias. You want clear, not leading, questions. Using a conversational, friendly tone helps parents relax and answer honestly—it feels less like paperwork and more like a chat they trust.
Here’s a table to make this visual:
Bad practices | Good practices |
|---|---|
Jargon-heavy language | Plain, everyday words |
Double-barreled questions (“Do you find calls helpful and timely?”) | Single-focus questions (“How helpful are phone calls for you?”) |
No option for explanations | Space or prompts for open-ended feedback |
Use both open-ended and multiple-choice questions to cover the big picture and the “why” behind responses. The best way to know if your survey works? You get lots of responses, and those responses give you detailed, actionable info.
Question types with examples for parent survey about communication preferences
When designing a parent survey about communication preferences, use a mix of open-ended, single-select, NPS, and targeted followup questions. For more examples and guidance, you can explore the best questions for parent communication preference surveys.
Open-ended questions let parents express their thoughts in their own words. Use them when you want qualitative detail and context. Examples:
“What’s your preferred way to get updates about your child’s progress, and why?”
“Can you describe a time when you felt especially informed or uninformed about your child’s school life?”
Single-select multiple-choice questions help quantify preferences. Use them when you need structured data you can compare. Example:
“Which of these channels do you most prefer for receiving updates on your child?”
Email
Text/SMS
School app/portal
Phone call
Paper/letters sent home
NPS (Net Promoter Score) question gives a quick read on satisfaction and loyalty. Useful for benchmarking and tracking changes over time—generate an NPS survey for parents here. Example:
“On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our school’s communication practices to another parent? Why?”
Followup questions to uncover “the why”: Use followups when someone’s answer is unclear, or you want to understand the cause. For example, if a parent says they “rarely” get useful info, follow up with:
“What type of information do you wish you received more regularly?”
Asking smart followups is key for deeper insight. To see more question ideas and best practices, check our companion article on survey questions for parents.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey is a two-way, dynamic exchange—less “fill out the form,” more “tell us what matters to you.” Instead of rigid forms, responses unfold in real time, with smart AI guiding the flow. That’s radically different from static Google Forms or PDFs. And it’s not just about style: conversational surveys make it much easier for parents to respond, especially on mobile devices, raising both completion rate and quality.
Here’s a look at the differences:
Manual surveys | AI-generated surveys (conversational) |
|---|---|
Time-consuming to write, easy to miss details | Created in seconds with expert input |
No dynamic followup—limited insight | Automated, smart follow-up questions based on answers |
Rigid, hard to edit on the fly | Easy to refine and edit using AI survey editor |
Low engagement, especially on mobile | Feels like a chat—mobile-friendly, engaging |
Why use AI for parent surveys? With an AI survey generator, you get a ready-to-use survey tailored to your context—no research or manual question writing required. For AI survey example after AI survey example, we see richer answers and higher completion rates. Specific sets the standard for user experience in conversational surveys, making it smoother for everyone.
If you want a deeper dive into building a survey (manual or AI), we’ve got a guide on how to create a survey step by step.
The power of follow-up questions
Automated followups change everything in a parent survey. Unlike static surveys, which only scratch the surface, conversational AI (like Specific) responds to parents’ answers in real time, just like an expert. If a response is vague, the AI can ask immediately for more context—saving weeks of back-and-forth emails and making the survey feel like an actual conversation. Learn more on our page about automatic AI follow-up questions.
Parent: “I don’t feel fully informed.”
AI follow-up: “Could you give an example of information you felt was missing or delayed?”
How many followups to ask? In most situations, 2-3 followups are plenty—just enough to clarify without overwhelming. You can set your survey to move on once you have what’s needed. Specific lets you control this for the perfect balance.
This makes it a conversational survey: the conversation feels human, natural, and respectful. More parents open up, so you get true insight—not just checkbox answers.
AI-powered analysis, summary, and insights: Even when you’re collecting unstructured text, analyzing survey responses is easy with AI. You get themes, summaries, and even the ability to chat with the data for deeper exploration.
These automated, context-aware followups are still new to most. If you haven’t yet, generate a survey and experience the difference.
See this communication preferences survey example now
Ready to reveal what parents really want? Create your own survey today and unlock smarter, tailored school-home connections in just minutes with Specific.