It can be easy to assume that your entire parent body “wants a new technology center” or “won’t pay more in tuition” from anecdotes or a small, highly vocal group. But the only way to truly understand what your parents want is through a well-designed survey. This tool enables you to gather the honest opinions of your entire parent body—not just those whose voices rise above the rest.
A parent survey allows your school to accomplish two goals. The first is identifying and mitigating (if possible) any issues that the majority of parents have with the school. The second is pinpointing the specific aspects of your school that parents value most. This helps your Marketing Communications Office improve its efforts to highlight what parents really love about your school in its materials.
Every school can benefit from a parent survey. Even if everything seems to be going well—parents seem happy, there are few complaints—the more information you have about your school’s clients, the better you can serve them. You can determine how effectively your programs and activities match their needs today and their needs in the future.
Surveying your school's parents means asking a busy group of people to take time out of their day to share their opinions with you. Careful preparation is essential. Use the following recommendations to mine actionable insights that will help you improve your school’s strategies to support students and their families.
Create a survey plan
Many schools implement surveys because “we want to know the answer to X.” But one-off attempts to answer small questions are often haphazard and ineffective.
Determine the goal(s) of your survey. Do you want to measure parents’ overall satisfaction with the school? Are you most interested in gathering information the school can use in a new marketing plan? Maybe the driving force is learning parents’ thoughts about a specific issue, such as the quality of your sports programs or your ability to prepare students for college?
Your survey should focus on your identified goal(s). The key to determining whether a question belongs in your survey is this: What will you do with the information you collect from that question? If the information is simply interesting, but doesn’t hold much value or provide actionable insights, it probably doesn’t belong.
Avoid seeking redundant information in your parent survey. If you’ve already asked specific questions during the admission or registration process, don’t waste time by asking again. However, if it’s a conscious decision to ask questions again for the purposes of data comparison, make that clear.
It can be overwhelming to try to structure an effective survey that produces the results your team needs. A third party is often helpful in this case. Consider using an outside party to craft and distribute the survey to save time, create a more focused questionnaire, and ensure reliable results.
A third party also guarantees that your parents will be more comfortable—and candid—when responding to an unaffiliated organization.
Generate buzz with your parents
Make sure your parents know that a survey is coming long before you send it out for the first time. Use parent meetings and the school newsletter to announce that a survey will be distributed in the next few months. Illustrate the purpose of the survey and stress the importance of parental participation.
A few weeks before your survey is set to launch, send a letter to parents from the School Head or Board President, reminding them of the survey and requesting their participation. Reinforce the value of parent feedback and the survey goals. Include an estimate of the time required to complete the survey. When the survey arrives, they’ll know what to expect.
Distribute your survey methodically
Any survey should go through the same process as all other official school communications. It should be reviewed by a designated administrator and scheduled into the school’s communication plans. Avoid sending your survey near the holidays or the end of the year when families are busy.
Analyze your results
With your survey conducted and your results collected, now is the time to analyze your results. Analyzing your results correctly is imperative to empower the school to enact effective change that parents really want. You may choose to use a third party to analyze your results with a neutral eye to provide feedback on which you can act.
A well-planned and well-executed survey yields information you would have difficulty obtaining through most other channels. The results support you in meeting families’ needs and positioning your school for growth in size and quality.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Advancement Vol. 14 No. 4 Six Mid-year Parent Survey Tips
Additional ISM resources for Gold members:
I&P Vol. 40 No. 12 Responsible Survey Data Communication
I&P Vol. 40 No. 4 A Guide to Responsible Survey Data Analysis
I&P Vol. 39 No. 15 Launching Your School's Survey Initiative
