Here are some of the best questions for a parent survey about after-school programs, plus tips to help you get insightful responses. You can easily create a custom survey like this in seconds with Specific.
Best open-ended questions for parent survey about after-school programs
If we’re aiming for rich context and honest feedback, open-ended questions are our go-to. They let parents share what really matters to them—in their own words—uncovering motivations, worries, and experiences that might surprise us. We like these most for capturing nuanced stories or understanding why something works (or doesn’t).
Here are 10 of our favorite open-ended questions for parent surveys about after-school programs:
What are the top reasons you chose this after-school program for your child?
Can you describe a positive change you’ve noticed in your child since joining the program?
What are your main goals or expectations for your child’s participation?
Are there any challenges or concerns you’ve experienced regarding the program?
Which activities does your child enjoy most, and why?
What would you like to see improved or added to the current program?
How does the after-school program impact your family’s daily routine?
What suggestions do you have for making the program more accessible or engaging?
How do you feel about the communication and support from staff?
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your child’s experience?
Using open-ended questions like these taps into what research shows: after-school programs can have wide-reaching impacts, like improved student self-perception, stronger connections to school, better grades, and reduced problem behaviors. [1] When we ask for lived experiences, we get context to shape stronger programs that address real needs.
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for parent survey about after-school programs
Single-select multiple-choice questions help when you want data you can quickly quantify. Sometimes it’s easier for parents to pick from a few clear options, especially if you want to kick off a survey with something simple or guide them toward a more detailed follow-up. This is perfect for comparing satisfaction levels or reasons for participation across many families.
Here are three useful single-select multiple-choice questions for a parent survey:
Question: What is your primary reason for enrolling your child in an after-school program?
Academic support
Physical activity
Supervision/care during work hours
Social skills development
Other
Question: How satisfied are you with the variety of activities offered?
Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
Neutral
Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Question: What is the biggest challenge to your family’s participation?
Cost
Transportation
Schedule conflicts
None
Other
When to follow up with "why?" If a parent picks “Transportation” as their biggest challenge, asking “Why does transportation make it difficult for your family?” opens up space for real stories and actionable feedback. Follow-up questions let us move from surface-level data to the underlying reasons that shape families’ experiences and needs.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always include “Other” when you want to avoid forcing answers or missing truly new ideas. Adding a follow-up prompt like “Please describe” helps catch unexpected insights and ensures your questions fit everyone, not just the majority.
NPS for parent survey about after-school programs
Net Promoter Score (NPS) works well for parent surveys about after-school programs. It checks one of the most important signals: “Would you recommend this program to other parents?” NPS gives a quick read on overall loyalty, satisfaction, and the likelihood that families will advocate for your program—and lets you segment promoters, passives, and detractors for deeper analysis. Parents’ willingness to recommend often tracks with real quality and impact, especially as after-school programs are linked to better academic achievement, school attendance, and positive behaviors. [2]
Try building a dedicated NPS survey for after-school programs—it’s one of our favorite starting points for evaluating overall parent satisfaction and predicting future word-of-mouth.
The power of follow-up questions
Automatic follow-up questions really change the game for conversational surveys. Rather than getting stuck with half-finished answers, you automatically gather the full context you need for richer insights. We go into the power of this on our deep dive into automated follow-up questions.
Specific uses AI to generate smart, real-time follow-ups based on what each parent says. You get the nuanced “why” behind the initial answer, all without sending extra emails or tracking parents down. Respondents feel genuinely heard—because they are. Here’s how things can go if you don’t ask followup questions:
Parent: “I wish the hours were different.”
AI follow-up: “Can you share what specific hours would work better for your family’s schedule?”
How many followups to ask? Typically, 2–3 follow-ups per question are enough to uncover what you need. Specific lets you set limits or skip further follow-ups once you have a clear answer—so the conversation stays useful and respectful of people’s time.
This makes it a conversational survey: One where respondents genuinely engage with you, turning feedback into an interactive, chat-like exchange rather than a sterile form.
AI response analysis: Even when you collect lots of rich, open-ended responses, analyzing all the text is easy. You can chat with AI about responses, surface key themes, and dig into topics—no spreadsheet wrangling required.
These follow-up features are truly new—try generating a survey to see how much deeper you can go.
How to compose a great prompt for AI-generated parent survey
Good prompts are the secret sauce to getting high-quality survey questions from ChatGPT or any other AI. To get started, spark the AI with something direct:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for parent survey about after-school programs.
But if you add more context—like your goals, your audience’s worries, or what makes your after-school setting unique—you’ll get even better results:
I want to understand how our after-school program is impacting academic achievement and social development. The survey should be for parents with children ages 6–12. Please suggest open-ended questions that help uncover challenges, priorities, and unmet needs.
Once you have your questions, ask the AI to organize them:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
From there, you can pick the categories (like “academic support” or “accessibility”), and dive deeper:
Generate 10 questions for categories ‘impact on academic performance’ and ‘program accessibility.’
Giving the AI this specificity gets you a survey that truly fits your context—instead of just generic questions.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey uses AI to run a natural-feeling chat with each respondent. Instead of bombarding parents with a boring grid of questions, you engage them in real-time—reacting to their answers, asking smart follow-ups, and building trust. Compared to traditional forms, the results are night and day.
Manual Survey Creation | AI-generated Conversational Survey |
|---|---|
Copy-paste generic questions | Instantly generates context-aware, smart questions |
One-size-fits-all format | Adapts to each parent’s answers, asks meaningful followups |
Often overwhelming or confusing for respondents | Feels like a two-way conversation—encourages thoughtful responses |
Hours to analyze qualitative data | AI distills key themes, lets you interactively explore feedback |
Why use AI for parent surveys? The biggest win is how easy it gets to probe for context, handle unstructured answers, and react—just like a real interviewer would. Specific’s AI survey generator lets you build, edit, and update a conversational survey by simply chatting. It delivers a research experience that feels modern for both survey creators and families. See our walkthrough on how to create a survey for parents about after-school programs for a step-by-step guide.
With best-in-class user experience, Specific turns feedback into a smooth, thought-provoking conversation—making sure you surface real, actionable insights every time. This is the future of user feedback for after-school programs.
See this after-school programs survey example now
Get started and experience for yourself how conversational surveys can capture richer, more actionable feedback from parents—unlocking honest stories and smarter improvements with just a few clicks. Don’t miss out on the world’s easiest way to build smarter surveys for after-school programs.