This is my first time responding to all of the forums and I find all of this information very helpful. Could I also please get a copy of the parent survey.
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We've found that the forms need to be concise and easy to complete in order to get the best results (i.e., most returned). So ours is mostly check boxes, not fill-in-the-blank. However, we are trying something new to recruit more dads.
While many dads are involved in parenting these days, we still tend to see the moms being the ones to fill out the forms. First we thought of sending home two forms - one for each, but figured we'd just get back one anyway. Instead, our form asks for info one "Volunteer 1" and "Volunteer 2" at the top. Then, where the check boxes are, we have two corresponding columns.
We still see a lot only being filled out by one parent, but we are also seeing that second column filled out more and more.
In one case, the parents of a 5th grader filled out the form, and on the dad's side, he marked several areas including being a class speaker. There's a small blank on that line for specifics, and he put that he could talk about guide dogs and the visually handicapped. We'd never heard of him as a resource before!
I really thinking re-designing the form has made at least some families look at it differently.
