Early childhood education isn’t just an occupation—it’s a community. 👨👩👦
From the teacher who’s been at the same preschool for four decades, to the new parents leaving their child for the first time, there’s a whole lotta love that goes into early learning—and as a leader, it’s up to you to utilize that love to create the best experiences possible.
And it starts by listening to your extended ECE family to build a community that works for everyone. ✅
What we’ll cover
- Why should we collect parent feedback?
- How to collect parent feedback in a way parents will love
- 25 powerful parent survey questions for your preschool parent survey
- Use parent feedback to boost engagement and revenue
What are parent survey questions?
Parent surveys are the process of collecting feedback from families to understand how they feel about:
- Your center's staff and operations
- Curriculum & teaching practices
- The amount of communication and engagement
- Which areas need improvement
Studies show that parental involvement can improve a student's academic achievement. And it’s not just the kids who benefit. Asking for parent feedback on your entire child care center operations can also help boost overall enrollment and increase revenue. What’s not to love? 😍
But collecting parent feedback is more complex than it used to be. Gone are the days of impromptu chats at pickup. These days, parent feedback is done almost entirely online. And while this new tech-reliant approach to collecting parent feedback certainly has its drawbacks, the upside is that your preschool can benefit from insightful analytics that has a real impact on your center’s success.
So, what does the best practice for preschool parent survey questions? How can your systems adapt to this new way of collecting data? And what are the most impactful childcare parent survey questions to ask?
In this clear-cut guide (with 25 free parent survey questions), we’ll share the best ways to drill down on parent feedback, simultaneously showcase your brand, and bring your ECE community closer together.
Want to download your FREE 25+ parent survey questions template now? Click the button below.👇
Why should we collect parent feedback?
Parent feedback can influence decision-making, so your business actually works for the people it serves.
Here’s why it’s worth the effort:
- Boost service quality: When your face is so close to the mirror, it can be hard to see what’s happening right in front of you. Asking for parent survey feedback brings new, objective insights and can have a huge impact on the quality of your service as an ECE provider.
- Higher parent interaction: The more you offer opportunities for parents to get involved, the more they’ll reciprocate. And engaged parents mean happier kids and higher re-enrollment rates.
- Easy data analysis: Parent feedback can create new insights into how you work. Just remember to choose a childcare management system with smart reporting features so you can visualize your parent engagement results in a way that makes sense for your entire team.
Gigi Schweikert, CEO at ECE forerunner Lightbridge Academy explains how they use parent feedback to influence their services: “At Lightbridge, we use an NPS or Net Promoter Score, which is really about gauging loyalty versus satisfaction. We also do customer surveys which are more about satisfaction, but the NPS score is about loyalty.”
In other words, marrying parent feedback with regular ‘how are we doing?’ check-ins is a great way to keep your family with you. Parent feedback surveys help you gauge how your center's doing. 👍🏻
Increase family participation by reading this ultimate guide to Family Engagement (+ free tips and best practices)!
Parents with child
Up-level your preschool survey questions for parents: How to send parent survey questions in a way families will love!
Parent feedback forms come in all shapes and sizes.
From traditional paper printouts to Typeform questionnaires, there are samples of a parent survey type for every center. Your results will depend on the length, ease, and interface of your surveys.
Whatever parent feedback method you choose, make sure to consider this first:
- Focus on brand awareness: From parent surveys to hiring, strong ECE businesses know every process should reflect your brand. That means making sure your survey tools are simple, streamlined, and customizable. Pushing parent feedback surveys through your child care management tool is a great way to weave feedback collection into your central brand story.
- Choose an option parents will love: Print-outs may have done the job a few years back, but these days parents expect tech at every turn. There are a ton of benefits to using digital survey tools, like higher parent interaction and simple data analysis options, so take parent experience into consideration before settling on your survey methods. Your preschool parent survey should be easy to fill out! Boost engagement by asking the right daycare survey questions for parents.
Michael Miller, Executive Chairman at Kiddie Academy believes tech is the way forward. He told BizJournals.com, “Twenty years ago, the brand experience was about a parent coming in and touring an academy and getting a feel that way. That’s all changed now. Today the brand experience happens on mobile devices, the internet, and online reviews. That’s where parents become comfortable with your brand.”
25 powerful preschool parent survey question examples
Preschool parent survey questions
- Are you satisfied with the amount of information you get about your child’s progress?
- Do you feel your thoughts, opinions, and suggestions are well-valued by [Preschool Name]?
- What other information would you like to know about your child’s school day?
- Do you find our parent communication channels easy to use?
- Do you feel you have a good relationship with your child’s teacher?
Teaching practices questions
- Do you believe your child gets enough attention from their teachers?
- How well does [Preschool Name] consider the individual needs of students?
- How well does [Preschool Name] support your child’s development?
- How fairly do you believe teachers treat the students?
- How appropriate are behavior and discipline practices at [Preschool Name]?
Distance learning questions
- How well do you feel the school has adapted to online learning?
- From 1 to 10, how easy to use is our distance learning platform?
- Do you feel you get enough information about distance learning activities?
- How easy is it to follow distance learning instructions?
- How well does [Preschool Name] consider the needs of your child when planning distance learning activities?
Operational questions
- Do classes at [Preschool Name] START too early, too late, or at the right time?
- Do classes at [Preschool Name] END too early, too late, or at the right time?
- From 1 to 10, how easy to use is our payment system?
- Do you find it easy to communicate with [Preschool Name] employees?
- Do you feel you have a good understanding of [Preschool Name]’s policies?
General parent survey questions
- What are the strengths of [Preschool Name]?
- What are the weaknesses of [Preschool Name]?
- Do you have any suggestions for improvement?
- Are you satisfied with the quality of service at [Preschool Name]?
- Do you have any concerns you would like to address?
How to Measure Parent Survey Questions
Once you collect these family responses - what's left to do?
The best way to measure parent survey questions will depend on the specific questions you are asking. For example, if you are asking parents to rate their satisfaction with the school, a Likert scale would be a good option. If you are asking parents about their thoughts on a specific issue, a multiple-choice question would be a good option. And if you are asking parents for their general thoughts on the school, an open-ended question would be a good option.
Once you have collected your survey responses, you will need to analyze them. This can be done by hand or by using software. When analyzing your survey responses, it is important to look at the overall trends. You should also look at the responses from different groups of parents, such as parents of different ages, parents of different income levels, and parents of different ethnicities.
Easily measure family engagement and parent feedback with an all-in-one childcare solution. See a status bar of how often families are being communicated with. Boost family retention by building strong relationships with families.
Use these parent survey sample questions for childcare to boost engagement and revenue
Communities grow stronger when everyone has their voice heard—and parent survey questions are the best way to let parents have their say.
Investing in parent feedback also helps to improve family engagement and customer loyalty for your unique childcare brand—making it that much easier to keep your revenue consistent.
But there’s one stand-out rule to remember: Always act on parent feedback.
If you ask parents to take the time to fill out a survey, you’ve got to follow up. Even if that just means explaining why you’re not going to act on it. Transparency goes a long way in building trust with today’s parents, so use your parent feedback surveys as a way to strengthen that relationship.
As long as you always act, use a tool your parents and staff are guaranteed to love, and weave feedback collection into your wider brand strategies, you’ll end up with powerful data that leads to better business choices.
Want to learn how LineLeader can save you and your staff countless hours of work? Watch our handy explainer video under 'video resources,' (or - better yet - click the button below to schedule a demo)! ⬇️
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Additional Content Resources
- Answer your burning question: what is family engagement?
- Check out why the right early education software is a must for your business.
- Learn about the importance of an easy-to-use daycare parent portal.
- Take a glance at the ultimate preschool classroom management best practices and tips.
