Parent survey questions: What to ask and why

Businesses often use surveys to learn more about their customers — but surveys can be equally helpful to educational institutions. Schools, daycares, and similar centers of learning can use surveys to learn more about their students in order to better serve and nurture them. In the pursuit of such knowledge, these organizations can use parent surveys to gather valuable insights.

To get a full understanding of who a student is — and what they need to succeed and thrive — teachers, childcare providers, and administrators can ask their parents. In this article, we cover some common types of parent survey questions and the importance of the surveys.

The importance of parent surveys

Parent surveys work well for many different institutions and organizations, such as schools, daycares, sports teams, and other extracurricular groups. Often, the goal of asking parent survey questions is to learn more details about a child, which can include administrative details such as their birth date or medical information as well as their likes, dislikes, and personal interests. Many young children aren’t able to advocate for themselves, and parent survey questions help give kids a voice through their parents.

Parent survey questions are also useful for obtaining feedback on an educator’s or institution’s performance, such as how the parent thinks the child’s teacher is doing in a given term or what a parent has to say about a daycare’s last fundraising event. Overall, parent surveys offer an opportunity for open communication, all in the best interest of the child.

Types of parent survey questions

Understanding the type of information an organization or institution wants to gather is key to determining what type of parent survey questions to ask.

Mandatory administrative questions

Organizations typically ask these types of questions at registration, and answers are often legally required for the child to be enrolled in the school, daycare, or activity.

• Biographical information about the child: These questions include those asking for the child’s full name, age, birth date, address, and similar details. This information is essential to have for anyone educating or looking after a child.
• Medical history, allergies, and other details: Having this type of information can be a literal lifesaver. Schools, daycares, and similar organizations require a child’s medical details so they can ensure the child is safe and healthy.
• Emergency contact information: If something happens to the child, the organization or institution must know whom to call and in what order.
• People approved to pick up the child: If a parent isn’t able to pick up the child at an institution, such as a school or daycare, clear instructions regarding which adults are allowed to pick them up must be on file. This category of question also sometimes includes who’s not allowed to pick up the child.

Other types of questions

These types of questions can be either mandatory or voluntary depending on the institution. Organizations sometimes require answers to them at registration, but they also may ask them at any point during the child’s tenure.

• The child’s interests, strengths, weaknesses, etc.: Many teachers and care providers want to know more about the child’s personality and abilities (as perceived by the parents) so they can better connect with them. Parents can provide this information as a starting point for teachers or administrators to help guide their conversations with students.
• Parent feedback and satisfaction: In order to better serve their students, schools, daycares, and similar institutions often ask parents to provide feedback on aspects of the administrative and educational policies and practices at the organization, such as schedules, services, personnel, performance, and even cost.
• Family dynamics: In some educational organizations and institutions, knowing more about the parent-student relationship and other aspects of family dynamics helps the teacher or childcare provider create a stronger bond with the student.

Jotform: The perfect tool for parent surveys

For schools and daycares to sports teams and beyond, Jotform provides an easy way to create any type of parent survey — mandatory or otherwise.

Jotform is a highly intuitive, user-friendly survey tool that offers several parent survey templates, including parent satisfaction surveys, school surveys, and more, all of which are fully customizable.

Jotform is a highly secure platform, so parents and organizations can rest assured any confidential or personal information regarding children, families, and educators is safe. It’s also a fully mobile-responsive tool, making it simple for busy parents to answer questions on the go. Whether your goal is to gather feedback or emergency contact details, Jotform makes it easy.