Sunset Lane Elementary School

Sunset Lane is a K-6 Elementary School in the Fullerton Elementary School District.  The ethnic breakdown of the student body is 30.1% White, 58.3% Asian, 9.6% Hispanic and 2% other.  Additionally, 208 of the approximately 732 students are limited English speaking.  These students speak more than six different languages with Korean and Spanish representing the largest language groups.  Sunset Lane Elementary School's staff includes 28 classroom teachers and two certified support personnel.

Under the guidance of Dr. Barbara Glaeser, Assistant Professor, Department of Special Education, CSU Fullerton and Kit Dameron, Principal, the teachers at Sunset Lane and the faculty at CSU Fullerton committed to a formal professional development partnership with the goal of improving learning for all students.  The following conditions were written and signed by both partners:

As a professional development school, Sunset Lane and CSU Fullerton will work collaboratively to:

• Support the school's action plan which focuses on vocabulary development for 1999-2000 and comprehension for 2000-2001.
• Provide ongoing support for future goals identified by the school.

• Ongoing staff development in research-based practices.
• Assistance for the school in assessing the effectiveness of classroom interventions.
• Working with teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions focusing on students scoring in the lower quartile of the SAT-9.

• A site for CSU Fullerton teacher-training classes.
• Opportunities for CSU Fullerton teachers in training to observe and practice exemplary instruction in the classroom under the supervision of Sunset Lane teachers.

As a part of the implementation of the school's action plan, CSU Fullerton faculty will train Sunset Lane teachers to implement research-based instructional strategies for students in grades 4-6, with a focus on students at-risk for failure.  Faculty will support teachers during implementation and assist with data collection to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention.

The CSU Fullerton/Sunset Lane Professional Development Project has 3 important components:

1. Staff development for Sunset Lane faculty which aligns with annual goals for school improvement.


2. Onsite CSU Fullerton courses providing opportunities for teachers in training to observe exemplary instructional practices in real classrooms and for students at Sunset Lane to receive tutoring in Reading from CSU Fullerton students.


3. Paired student teaching: general education and 1 special education student teach together in one classroom.

Link to Sunset Lane's web site