Best questions for teacher survey about classroom management

Here are some of the best questions for a teacher survey about classroom management, plus key tips for building them. You can use Specific to instantly generate this survey and skip hours of manual work.

Best open-ended questions for teacher surveys about classroom management

Open-ended questions are powerful for surfacing unique perspectives, pain points, and unexpected ideas teachers might have about classroom management. They allow respondents to elaborate in their own words, often revealing insights that pre-set answer choices would miss. This approach is especially valuable when you’re exploring complex or evolving topics—like student engagement or classroom behavior—where you want to learn what matters most directly from teachers themselves.

This depth comes with a trade-off: open-ended survey items often have higher nonresponse rates—around 18% to over 50% in some studies—compared to just 1–2% for closed-ended items. But these open answers can be gold: in one study, 60% of responses went beyond any of the pre-coded closed answers, proving just how much gets overlooked without them. [1][2]

1. What are your biggest challenges in managing student behavior in your classroom?

2. Can you describe a classroom management strategy that has worked especially well for you?

3. How do you handle disruptions or off-task behavior from students?

4. What support or resources would help you improve classroom management?

5. Describe a recent situation where you felt your classroom was well-managed. What made it successful?

6. What changes (if any) would you make to your current approach to classroom management?

7. How do you build positive relationships with students to support effective classroom management?

8. What role do parents or guardians play in classroom management for you?

9. Have you encountered any unexpected challenges this year related to classroom management?

10. Which professional development topics related to classroom management interest you most?

Just remember: balance open-ended items with closed ones for the best response rate and fullest insights. [3]

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for teacher surveys about classroom management

Single-select multiple-choice questions let you quantify key trends quickly. They work best when you need structured, comparable data—for example, when looking to benchmark teacher confidence, or zero in on the most common challenges. They can also nudge teachers to reflect, and are less mentally taxing than typing long responses—helpful to keep momentum before asking for deeper feedback with a follow-up question or two. This mix—quantitative and qualitative—gives a much clearer, more trustworthy overall picture. [3]

Here are some proven questions and answer sets:

Question: What is your primary approach to classroom management?

• Positive reinforcement

• Clear rules and consequences

• Collaborative problem-solving

• Consistent routines

• Other

Question: How would you rate your confidence in managing classroom behavior?

• Very confident

• Somewhat confident

• Neutral

• Not very confident

• Not confident at all

Question: Which area of classroom management do you find most challenging?

• Student engagement

• Handling disruptions

• Consistency with rules

• Parent involvement

• Other

When to follow up with “why?” When a teacher chooses an answer—especially for a “most challenging” area or rates something low—following up with “Why did you select this?” or “Can you share an example?” opens the conversation, retrieves context, and turns simple data into meaningful feedback that you can actually use. This probing is what makes a survey into a learning experience—both for you and the respondent—and adds depth without being overwhelming.

When and why to add the “Other” choice? Always include an “Other” option for multiple choice sets that might not be fully exhaustive. When a teacher picks “Other,” prompt them to describe their answer—this often uncovers issues or best practices you might not have considered in advance, and can even inform future iterations of your survey design.

NPS question for classroom management surveys

NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a simple, research-backed metric for understanding loyalty and advocacy. For teacher surveys about classroom management, asking something like, “How likely are you to recommend our classroom management support or PD sessions to another teacher?” gives you a pulse on how well your strategies and resources land at scale. NPS is beloved for its benchmarking power, and also because segmenting follow-ups by score unlocks very actionable next steps: you can easily ask promoters (9-10) what they love, while learning where passives and detractors are stuck.

If you want to try it, Specific’s NPS survey for teacher classroom management makes it painless to launch and analyze NPS responses, fully tailored to teachers.

The power of follow-up questions

Strong surveys don’t just ask a question and move on—they dig deeper, adapting in real time. Strategic follow-ups drive richer answers and more precise understanding. Automated AI follow-up questions take this even further, ensuring every response is explored just like a great interviewer would. (See how auto-followups work in conversational surveys for more.)

AI-powered follow-ups are a game changer. A recent study found that surveys using follow-ups (vs. static questions) gathered longer, more nuanced responses, rich with detail and multiple themes. [4] And with Specific, AI follow-ups adjust to every teacher’s language and context—no need for back-and-forth via email to clarify vague answers or fill gaps. Ultimately, this means time saved for you, and a survey experience that feels like a natural conversation, not a form.

• Teacher: “Sometimes I have trouble keeping students focused after lunch.”

• AI follow-up: “What strategies have you tried to help students stay on-task after lunch? Were any of them effective?”

How many follow-ups to ask? Usually, 2–3 targeted follow-up questions are enough to clarify, probe for more detail, or capture an example. It’s crucial to strike the right balance: don’t overwhelm the respondent, but don’t let valuable insights slip by either. Specific lets you control this—with an option to skip to the next question once you have the information you need.

This makes it a conversational survey: By turning your survey into a back-and-forth exchange, you unlock a completely different level of insight—and engagement. It feels like a “real” conversation, not just a digital checkbox.

AI response analysis: If you’re worried about handling all the unstructured text that comes from open and follow-up questions, don’t be. With AI survey response analysis (see how to use AI for response analysis), you can instantly summarize key patterns, discover new themes, and even ask the AI questions about your own dataset, all without wading through endless text.

Automated follow-up questions are a new, modern way to collect deeper, more meaningful feedback. Give it a try—build your own classroom management survey with smart, conversational follow-ups and see the difference.

How to prompt AI for better teacher survey questions about classroom management

If you want ChatGPT (or Specific) to draft questions for you, prompts are the key. Here’s the simplest starting point:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for teacher survey about classroom management.

But AI always performs better with more context. For precise, relevant survey questions, add detail about your audience, goals, and challenges you want to address:

I’m a principal creating a survey for K–8 teachers. The goal is to understand classroom management challenges, gather ideas for PD topics, and identify where extra resources might help. Please suggest 10 open-ended questions that will encourage honest, actionable feedback.

After you get your initial questions, the next step is structure and focus. Try:

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

Then, once you see your categories, dig deeper. Choose the themes that matter most to you, and prompt:

Generate 10 questions for categories “Behavior management,” “Support needs,” and “Professional development.”

This iterative approach gives you focused, expert-level surveys quickly—especially when paired with a conversational survey platform like Specific, which lets you instantly refine and deploy your survey.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey is exactly what it sounds like: instead of blank fields and checkbox grids, your survey mimics a real conversation—complete with smart, responsive AI that asks follow-up questions, adapts to answers in real time, and creates a much more natural experience. This approach isn’t just “nicer”—it’s clinically proven to get more information, more relevant detail, and clearer answers than traditional online surveys. [5]

Here’s how manual surveys compare to AI-generated (conversational) surveys for teachers:

Why use AI for teacher surveys? With AI, you remove the guesswork from question design and response analysis. You save time, measure what truly matters to your teachers, and surface actionable patterns fast—all while giving respondents a smooth, engaging experience.

For more tips on survey creation, check out our how-to guide for creating teacher surveys about classroom management. “AI survey example,” “AI survey builder,” and “conversational survey” aren’t just buzzwords anymore—they’re the new gold standard for teacher feedback, and Specific offers the best user experience in this space.

See this classroom management survey example now

You can craft a smarter survey in seconds—Skip the struggle and collect deeper insights from every teacher with Specific. Try the new wave of feedback and see the difference. Start the conversation, and turn every response into real classroom impact.