Student Voices

Student Voices Give Input on SBTL at Dalat

At Dalat, students are helping shape how Standards-Based Teaching and Learning (SBTL) comes to life in our classrooms. Through an ongoing high school focus group that began in the 2023–2024 school year and led by Mr. Hieber, student feedback is leading to meaningful changes. The group includes a diverse cross-section of students, including three new freshmen who joined this semester to continue the work of last year’s graduating seniors.

Changes from Feedback

Some examples of tangible improvements resulting from student feedback include:

• A new “custom standards” tracking tool created by our Director of Technology, Joel Roberts, allowing students to better monitor their progress on specific learning goals.
• Continued work on detailed rubrics and exemplars across courses, which students report has significantly improved their understanding of expectations and boosted confidence.
• Scheduled reassessment opportunities that accommodate students’ busy academic and extracurricular commitments.

For Next Year

Beginning next school year, we’ll introduce a new “Approaching Developing” category in our assessment framework. This addition responds to feedback from our entire school community and will provide more nuanced feedback for students in the earliest stages of mastering new concepts, reducing frustration, and offering clearer pathways for improvement.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to attend our Campus Update on May 28 at 2 p.m., where we’ll share additional SBTL refinements based on parent feedback and other campus updates. If you have specific thoughts or concerns that you would like to share, please email sseevaratnam@dalat.org. Change is never easy, but we believe that by working together—students, teachers, and parents—we can create a learning environment that is clear, supportive, and focused on helping every student grow.