Twice as many Illinois seniors take AP exam than a decade ago

Springfield, Il – The Illinois State Board of Education today announced a record number of Illinois students took AP exams in 2010, according to the seventh annual AP Report to the Nation. The percent of Illinois graduates completing more than one AP exam has more than doubled since 2001, and nearly twice as many seniors in 2010 posted a successful score on an AP exam than those graduating a decade ago.

Illinois ranked in the upper half of the nation in 2010 for the number of high school seniors – 17.2 percent – who scored a 3 or higher on an AP exam. In addition, participation among all categories – by gender, ethnicity and economic class – increased in Illinois as the state begins implementing more rigorous college and career-ready standards.

“The gains that Illinois students have made in terms of AP participation and success is another sign that our students are moving in the right direction and taking more challenging coursework to prepare them for college and careers,’’ said State Superintendent of Education Christopher A. Koch. “We expect these gains to continue as we implement Illinois’ new, internationally-benchmarked learning standards.’’

Illinois ranked 16th in the nation for having the greatest percent of seniors posting a 3 or higher, which studies have shown is predictive of college success and college graduation. The percentage of Illinois students reaching that benchmark has increased by more than 6 percentage points since 2001 when 11 percent of students scored a 3 or higher. More than a quarter of all high school seniors in the Class of 2010 took at least one AP exam during high school.

Last year, the Board adopted the more rigorous internationally-benchmarked Common Core Standards in English and mathematics. Science standards are currently being developed. Illinois is one of 11 states serving on the governing board of the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). The new online assessments, which will be better aligned to the state standards, will be ready for states to administer in the 2014-15 school year.

Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School in Flossmoor, a southern suburb of Chicago, was singled out in the AP Report to the Nation for having the greatest number of African American students from the Class of 2010 scoring 3 or higher on the AP Psychology exam. Over time, increasing numbers of African American and Latino students are participating in AP.

·  In Illinois, Hispanic or Latino high school seniors in 2010 represent 15.1 percent of the AP examinee population, up from 7.9 percent in 2001. The percent of Hispanic seniors scoring successfully on an AP exam grew from 11.7 percent in 2009 to 12.3 percent last year.

 ·   Nationally, Black or African American high school seniors represent 8.6 percent of the AP examinee population. In Illinois, Black or African American seniors in 2010 represent 11.6 percent of the AP examinee population, up from 5 percent in 2001.

·  More low-income students are participating and experiencing success in AP than ever before. Nationally, 21.1 percent of seniors in 2010 that took an AP exam while in high school were from low-income families, up from 15.9 percent in the Class of 2006.  In Illinois, 23.6 percent of seniors taking the test in 2010 were from low-income families, up from 15.9 percent in the Class of 2006.  

Other highlights of the seventh annual AP Report to the Nation:

·  Across the state, 16.8 percent of the graduating Class of 2010 took at least one social science AP exam – more than in any other subject area.  

·    The most popular AP exam in Illinois for the graduating class of 2010 was U.S. History with 12,259 tests taken compared to Chemistry with 4,089 tests taken.

·    In Illinois, 56.5 percent of examinees from the Class of 2010 were female, compared to 56.7 percent nationally.

Two Direct-From-Broadway Hits, A Tennessee Williams Classic Reimagined by an Internationally-Acclaimed Spanish Director, An Incandescent Musical Revival and New Works Sear The Stage

Chicago, IL – It’s a “red hot” line-up! Artistic Director Robert Falls announces five of eight play selections in Goodman Theatre’s upcoming 2011/2012 subscription season—beginning with his production of the Tony Award-winning Broadway sensation Red, by John Logan, in September. Next in the Albert Theatre, Resident Director Chuck Smith stages David Mamet’s Race in a Chicago premiere, following its acclaimed Broadway run. The Goodman then welcomes Spanish director Calixto Bieito, known for his radical opera stagings, in his American theater debut with a new interpretation of the rarely produced Camino Real by Tennessee Williams. The season concludes on a high note with Regina Taylor’s musical Crowns— revived for its 10th anniversary. In the Owen Theatre, rising-star playwright Danai Gurira brings her world-premiere production of The Convert, a stand-out offering in the Goodman’s recent New Stages new play reading series. Still to be announced are three plays—including a collaboration with Chicago’s Teatro Vista. The 2011/2012 season also includes the 34th annual production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.Artistic Director Robert Falls calls the 2011/2012 season selections “a dynamic mix of classics and new works from some of the greatest theater artists in our city, country and beyond. Red is a towering portrait of the legendary visual artist, Mark Rothko, at work. This piece has riveted audiences in its sold-out run in London’s West End and earned six Tony Awards for its Broadway engagement. It’s a gift to Chicago that playwright John Logan, an award-winning producer and Hollywood writer who began his career here, has chosen the Goodman to host the first production of his beautiful play following its Broadway run.

“It’s also a thrill to stage David Mamet’s provocative new play, Race, in his hometown following its Broadway debut. My wonderful associate Chuck Smith, whose poignant, moving productions of plays like A Raisin in the Sun, Proof, Crumbs From the Table of Joy and The Good Negro have engaged audiences for nearly two decades, brings a particularly skilled hand. We’re in for a treat with this bitingly funny new play—Mamet’s first here since our 2006 David Mamet Festival.

“I am proud to continue our efforts to bring important works of world theater to the Goodman,” continued Falls. “It is a true honor to welcome the bold artistic vision of Catalonian director Calixto Bieito. I have long admired this internationallyacclaimed artist; his production of Tennessee Williams’ rarely-produced Camino Real—a poetic, lyrical and dreamlike departure from Williams’ canon—promises to be unlike any other.

“It’s hard to believe that Regina Taylor’s incandescent musical Crowns has delighted audiences across the country for ten years. I have been asked many times when we would revive this enormous hit, which we produced in 2004. I’m delighted that Regina herself will direct this soul-stirring celebration of African American women and their church hats.

“Finally,” remarked Falls, “we warmly welcome back Danai Gurira to the Owen stage with The Convert, her powerful new play. Audiences will remember Danai from her commanding performance in In The Continuum (2007), which she also cowrote.

The Convert was a hot ticket in our New Stages new play reading series this year, and we’re proud to produce its world premiere production, together with our friends at McCarter Theatre and Center Theatre Group.”

A Season Opening Benefit, in conjunction with Red, takes place on September 27, 2011 at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing. For tickets and more information about the Season Opening Benefit, call 312.443.5564.

To subscribe to the 2011/2012 season, call 312.443.3800 or visit ExploreTheGoodman.org.

About the Plays and Artists in Goodman Theatre’s 2011/2012 Season

All titles, artists and dates are subject to change.

In The Albert Theatre – One Play still to be announced

Red

By John Logan

Directed by Robert Falls

September/October 2011

Full-blooded and visceral, the Tony Award-winning Red takes you into the mind of abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, for whom paintings are “pulsating” life forces and art is intended to stop the heart. Red chronicles the tormented painter’s two-year

struggle to complete a lucrative set of murals for Manhattan’s exclusive Four Seasons restaurant, and his fraught relationship with a seemingly naïve young assistant, who must choose between appeasing his mentor and changing the course of art history. Set amid the swiftly-changing cultural tide of the early 1960s, Red is a startling snapshot of a brilliant artist at the height of his fame, a play hailed as “intense and exciting” by the New York Times. ComEd is the official Lighting Sponsor for Red. 

Race

By David Mamet

Directed by Chuck Smith

January/February 2012

This latest work by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Mamet ruthlessly examines guilt and oppression via a compelling crime mystery. Two high-profile lawyers—one black, one white—are called to defend a wealthy white client charged with the rape of an African-American woman, but soon find themselves embroiled in a complex case in which blatant prejudice is as disturbing as the evidence at hand. With characteristic bluntness, Mamet leaves nothing unsaid in this no-holds-barred suspense story which the Chicago Tribune declared “intellectually salacious.”

Camino Real

By Tennessee Williams

Directed by Calixto Bieito

March/April 2012

Tennessee Williams’ hauntingly poetic allegory takes us to the mysterious Camino Real, a surreal netherworld populated by a colorful collection of lost souls anxious to escape but terrified of the unknown wasteland lurking beyond the city’s walls. When Kilroy, an American traveler and former boxer inadvertently lands in Camino Real, he sets off on a phantasmagoric venture through illusion and temptation in an attempt to flee its confines—and defy his grim destiny. Called “one of Williams’ most imaginative plays” by the New York Times, Camino Real is a sensual carnival of desire and desperation.

Crowns

Written and directed by Regina Taylor

June/July 2012

Regina Taylor’s gospel musical sensation returns to the Goodman, promising audiences a rollicking good time. When Brooklyn-born Yolanda relocates to the South after the death of her brother, she finds strength in the tales of the wise women who surround her—and the powerful rituals connected to their dazzling hats. Fusing the music of the South with rich storytelling and abundant “hattitude,” Crowns is a jubilant celebration of song, dance, cultural history—and glamorous headwear.

In The Owen Theatre – Two Plays still to be announced

The Convert

By Danai Gurira

Directed by Emily Mann

A Co-Production with McCarter Theatre Center (Princeton, NJ) and Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles, CA)

February/March 2012

Set amid the colonial scramble for southern Africa in 1895, The Convert tells the tale of Jekesai, a young girl who escapes a forced marriage arrangement with the help of a stalwart black African catechist, Chilford Ndlovu. Caught between her loyalties to her family and culture but indebted to this new Christian god, she becomes Chilford’s protégé, but when an anticolonial uprising erupts she is forced to decide which side of the conflict she will choose—and where her heart truly belongs. With wit and compassion, The Convert explores the untold cultural and religious collisions caused by British colonization in this section of southern Africa (now Zimbabwe), and the reverberating effects still felt in the region today. The Convert was commissioned by Center Theatre Group.

About Goodman Theatre

Currently on stage is the world premiere of Regina Taylor’s The Trinity River Plays (through February 20, 2011) in the Albert and Mary, a world premiere Goodman commission by Thomas Bradshaw (through March 6, 2011).

Upcoming productions in the 2010/2011 Season include: God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza (March 5 – April 10); El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho (world premiere, March 26 – April 24); Stage Kiss by Sarah Ruhl (world premiere Goodman commission, April 30 – June 5); and Chinglish by David Henry Hwang (world premiere, June 18 – July 24).

Visit the Goodman virtually: watch artist interviews at ExploreTheGoodman.org; catch the latest news from rehearsal on theGoodman’s Blog, Goodman-Theatre.Blogspot.com/; Friend us at Facebook.com/GoodmanTheatre; Follow at Twitter.com/GoodmanTheatre and peek behind-the-scenes at YouTube.com/TheGoodmanTheatre.

Northwestern art exhibition examines black identity through digital and futuristic landscapes

Evanston, IL –  Drawing inspiration from film noir, the digital age and contemporary surveillance culture, two Chicago-based artists explore black identity through a post-modern and “Afrofuturist” lens at an exhibition at Northwestern University this winter.

The exhibition — “Tech Noire: The Art of Stephen Flemister and Krista Franklin” — features the works of these two artists. It opens at the Dittmar Memorial Gallery Feb. 10 and runs through March 16. The exhibition and a 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11 opening reception are free and open to the public.

The Dittmar Gallery is located on the first floor of Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive, on the University’s Evanston campus.

Flemister and Franklin were prompted by ideas of the “digital eye,” film noir, speculative and science fiction literature, and the manipulation of identity in 20 mixed medium collages, paintings and sketches featured in the exhibition.

Flemister finds inspiration in modern technology and traditional studio arts. His paintings explore the parallels between low-resolution images and portraiture. Some of his most recent digitally inspired works about identity make use of images on the Internet or in video chat rooms. His mixed media piece, “noire query,” is a frontal visual of a public figure created from enlarged inkjet prints of facial elements altered with markings. Self-reinvention shaped by imagination and conspiracy are represented by an owl sculpture that hangs overhead. For more about Flemister, visit http://stephenflemister.com.

Franklin creates visual images that explore the historical and contemporary experiences, dream worlds and psychic landscapes of the black community. Her mixed media collages remix iconography and popular imagery of communities of color. Her visual work pulls inspiration from pop culture, history, and the glamour of television and celebrity in American culture.

Franklin’s mixed media collage “Do Androids Dream of How People Are Sheep?” is an Afro- futuristic imagining of an African android, and features a woman in profile who is both human and machine set against a background of tattered doilies. The collage plays on notions of the black body as laborer/machine. Her mixed-media multi-structured artist’s book, titled “etoile noire & the beauty machine,” pays homage to black celebrities and vintage advertisements for black hair and skin care products. For more on Franklin, visit http://www.kristafranklin.com.

For information on the “Tech Noire” exhibition, call the Dittmar Gallery at (847) 491-2348 or Norris University Center at (847) 491-2300, e-mail dittmargallery@northwestern.edu or visit the Dittmar website at www.dittmar.northwestern.edu.