1. Xian Franzinger Barrett
2245 S. Marshall Blvd. Unit 1
Chicago, IL 60623
Cell/Home: (217) 721-8858
Email: xianbchi@gmail.com
Objective: To build a freer, more equitable society by educating each student in my care into their greatest future. To do
so on a strong middle grades or high school team that is recognized nationally for its accomplishments.
Certification: Standard 09 Secondary Teaching Certification through July 2020 with endorsements in middle school and high
school Foreign Language – Japanese and Social Science. Sexual Education Certification. Middle school mathematics
certification in August 2016.
CURRENT EMPLOYMENT
Brighton Park Elementary School, Chicago Public Schools Chicago, Illinois
Teacher, Club Sponsor September 2014-Current
● Instructional:
o Supported 8th grade students to post consecutive years of 80th percentile growth on the NWEA and led>50% of them to
read at the 10th grade level or higher
o Planned and taught multiple sections of 7th and 8th grade Writing and Language Arts
o Planned and taught multiple sections of Social Studies, including Constitution
● Co-curricular:
o Led ten 8th grade students to be publishedin national orcitywide publications
o Faculty Sponsor of Social Justice, Service Learning, and JapaneseAfter School Clubs
o Coordinator for Restorative Justicefor 7th and 8th grades
o Led an average of 20 in-school or after school field trips to educational destinations each year
● Peer Leadership:
o Mentored 4 student teachers to complete theirprogram, pass EdTPA and lead theirown classrooms
o Co-founded EduColor, a nationally recognizedcollective foreducators of color devoted to social justice education
o Created after school professionallearning communities for peer writing circles and curriculum development
o Keynoted at multiple professional development conferences nationally
o Was the only classroom teacher selected to theAFT’s task force on professionalism and was selected as the model for teaching
professionalism nationally
OTHER TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Gage Park High School, Chicago Public Schools Chicago, Illinois
Teacher, Club Sponsor August 2011-July 2013
● Instructional:
o Planned and taught Law in American Society and Chicago History to a diverse population of high need junior and senior
students.
o Planned and taught World Studies course and its curriculum to the five lowest scoring incoming cohorts among the 2011-2012 9th
grade class
o Posted highest net reading gains in the last decade at the school among freshman which facilitated the schools improved rating
● Co-curricular:
o Faculty Sponsor of Social Justice, Youth Summit, Chicago History Fair, Mock Trial Team, Chi-NOLA and Voices of Youth in
Chicago Education (VOYCE) student organizations
o Faculty Coordinator of a restorative justice program that led to a 60% drop in freshmen suspensions and an increase of 61% in
the freshman on-track rate as compared to the previous cohort
o Coordinated 30 separate student field trips including a student social justice trip to Mexico City through the Illuminated Cities
Project
o Facilitated students’ writing for publication in Education Week, theChicago Sun-Times and other media outlets
o Led students on more than a dozen service learning projects
o Supported students in direct conversations with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and other Department of Education
and White Housepersonnel
● Peer Leadership:
o Served on the VIVA teacher policy writing committee that made recommendations around extended school day policy to the
CEO of Chicago Public Schools and the President of the Chicago Teachers Union, and theSchool Calendar Joint Committee
o Presented at over a dozen conferences, including the feature panel at the Coalition for Essential Schools and keynoteat the
Massachusetts Educators for a Democratic Union conference
Percy L. Julian High School, Chicago Public Schools Chicago, Illinois
Teacher, Faculty Service Learning Coordinator August 2006-August 2010
● Instructional:
o Coordinated all Japanese instruction for 150 students—theonly public high school program of its typein our region. Showed
gains in math and reading scores among Japanesestudents due to cross-curricular unit design.
o Developed Japanese program as a recruitment tool for attracting students to theschool
o Procured and led students in securing over $35,000 in grants and outside funding for academic and co-curricular programs
● Co-curricular:
2. o Faculty Sponsor of Social Justice and Japan Clubs
o Coordinated 95 separate student field trips including a Social Justice service learning trip to New Orleans, Louisiana
o Facilitated students’ writing for publication in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Reader
o Founding member of the City-widesocial justice organization, Chicago Youth Initiating Change which hosts an annual all-city
student-led and operated social justice conference
o Led students on more than fifty service learning projects
o Coordinated student collaborations with the JET Programme Alumni Association and the JapaneseConsulate
o Led students in successful lobbying on a stateand local level regarding education bills of their choice.
● Peer Leadership:
o Served on the Senior Staff Teacher Advisory Council to the Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools
o Accumulated over 200 hours of professional development including presenting to peers at conferences
Lakeview High School Chicago, Illinois
Student Teacherof U.S. History; Japanese Language March 2005-May 2005
● Developed lesson plans and new curricula for two classes of Japanese Language and three classes ofU.S. History
● Taught five periods of 9-12th graders from diverse backgrounds for ten weeks
● Assisted English instructors and students in the creation of an “expression session” for student poems and spoken word
Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET), Namino Board of Education Namino, Kumamoto, Japan
Assistant Language Teacher/County Representative July 2000-June 2002
● Taught elementary and middle schoolEnglish and Human Rights Education classes.Taught English conversation classes to
local adults through the board of education
● Developed English and Human Rights curricula that significantly improved students’interest in internationalism and
triggered improvements in average high schoolentrance exam scores from 15.43 to 30.10 (out of a possible 50 points)
● Translated legal documents and government announcements for other JETs and coordinated JET meetings and community
outreach in my capacity as state appointed JET representative for Aso county
● Delivered papers on educational issues ofcultural diversity at JET instructional conferences
● Participated and gave workshops at a grassroots curriculum development seminar at Kumamoto University
RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE
New Voice Strategies Chicago, Illinois
National Program Director July 2013-Present
● Managed programming team to successfully complete multiple simultaneous mass market Idea Exchange™ Projects across national, state
and municipal communities
● Supported Grant writing and fiscal management of $3 million of foundation grants
● Coordinated with Social and Traditional Media Departments to be an industry leader in social media work
Chicago Teachers Union Chicago, IL
Political Director July 2010-June 2011
● Engaged members, community activists and students in lobbying trips to Springfield
● Served on six stateand municipal task forces and committees
● Led the30,000 member Chicago Teachers Union’s endorsement process in the 2010 stateelections, with a 34-6 success record
● Worked with dozens of community, education advocate, labor, parent, student and legislative groups to develop groundbreaking education
and facilities reform legislation to benefit the students of the stateof Illinois
● Collaborated with communications personnelin messaging education issues to all stakeholder groups
Office of Innovation and Improvement, Department of Education, Washington, DC
Classroom Teaching Ambassador Fellow August 2009-July 2010
● Selected with nine other classroom teachers nationally to advise the Department of Education on policy implementation
● Educated teachers and communities on the Department of Education’s latest policies
● Led teacher discussions at national conferences on the strengths and areas for improvement in Department of Education Policy
● Developed a national plan for urban school improvement
● Conducted listening session tours with senior Department of Education staff
● Screened and interviewed new candidates and continue to consult on national education policy issues
Knowledge Points Chicago, Illinois
Tutor September 2005-May 2006
● Instructed groups of three K-12 students in reading and mathematics programs in Chicago Public Schools.
● Guided students in advancing 2 to 4 grade level competencies in each of the tested categories
EDUCATION
National Louis University Chicago/Evanston, Illinois
Masters of Arts in Teaching Summer 2007
The Japan Foundation Los Angeles, California
Certificate, Japanese-Language Proficiency,level two February 2006
Japanese Central Government Tokyo, Japan
Official Certification,Japanese Language Training Programme March 2005
University of Illinois Urbana, Illinois
Bachelorof Arts in East Asian Languagesand Cultures May 2000
3. PUBLICATIONS
● Contribution to “Quality Counts 2013: Code of Conduct: Safety, Discipline, and School Climate", Education Week, 2013
● Multiple articles for CNN.com
● “Time, Teachers and Tomorrow’s Schools”, VIVA Teachers, 2012
● Dozens of other articles in print and website venues,including the century old magazine, The Progressive.
VOLUNTEER AFFILIATIONS (more detail available upon request)
● Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET) Alumni Association,Interviewer and Presenter
● WEFT 90.1 FM Champaign, Community Radio for East Central Illinois, Programming Committee, Electronic
music genre co-director, Show Host
● SWANN Special Care, Advisory Board Community Representative
● Member of the following Gubernatorial, General Assembly and Mayoral Committees and Task Forces: Illinois State P-20
Council, Mayor’s Sister Cities Chicago-Osaka Committee, the General Assembly’s Charter Authorizer Task Force, the
General Assembly’s Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force, the Governor’s Student Transportation Task Force, the
Governor’s Student Health Task Force, Member of the Mayor’s Adolescent Access to Health Care Task Force, Member of
the National-Louis Secondary Education Advisory Board
AWARDS
SponsorTeacher Mutiple Student Grant Award Winners 2015-2016
VIVA Teacher Policymaker, 2011
Those Who Excel, Illinois State Teacher of the Year, Semifinalist, 2010.
United States Department of Education Classroom Teaching AmbassadorFellow, 2009-2010
SponsorTeacher, Harris Fellows Student Grant Award Team, Jaguars for Justice, 2009.
Chicago Public Schools DRIVE Award Winner, 2008.
Chicago Public Schools Service Learning Teacher of the Year, 2008.
SponsorTeacher, Chicago Public Schools Service Learning Underclassman of the Year, 2008.
Goodwill Ambassador,Kumamoto Prefecture, 2002.
AEIJ Scholarship, Japanese Government, 1998.
National Merit Scholar, 1993.
ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
State of Illinois, Bill Tracking SystemTraining, Springfield, IL, 2010.
Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteercertification, Champaign-Urbana CASA, 2004.
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES
Jose Luis Vilson New York Public Schools Instructor, Author
Phone Number: 646-483-5440
Email Address: jose.l.vilson@gmail.com
Jon Schmidt Loyola University Director, SL manager
Phone Number: 773-841-1344
Email Address: jjschmidt4@gmail.com
Gillian Cohen-Boyer U.S. Department of
Education
Office of Innovation and
Improvement, Team Lead
Phone Number: 202-401-1259
Email Address: Gillian.cohen-boyer@ed.gov
Brian Brady Mikva Challenge Executive Director
Phone Number: 773-439-9637
