The backfire from recent changes to education policy demonstrates that plans designed to help students may not always yield positive results. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has consistently met criticism from teachers, many of whom have expressed concern that class curricula are becoming tailored to standardized test preparation in order for students to meet the legislation's Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) markers. And the High School Assessments (HSAs), the exams by which Maryland schools are evaluated, fail to objectively measure student mastery of classroom concepts.
The release of "Blades of Glory" begs the question – how many times can Will Ferrell get away with playing the same character in increasingly ridiculous situations? The answer: At least once more.
For many wide-eyed high schoolers, the college search can be an intimidating process. And for a college hopeful, nothing is more beneficial than a first-hand visit to your school of interest. Simply taking a look around won't suffice, however - to get the most out of these valuable visits, you have to know where to go, what to see and what to do. This guide will teach you how to get to know a college campus from the inside out.
Justin Timberlake in the round. 360 full degrees of Justin Timberlake. Can it get any better? For more than 25,000 screaming girls (and a few reluctant boyfriends), it most certainly cannot.
Fists raised, the two fighters circle each other. A lightning-fast right hook to the nose sends one careening back to his corner, blood dripping down his face. It's a win for Eric, a junior. This isn't a boxing match. They don't even consider it a real fight, just a "get-together" between friends, bound by blood. An hour later, Eric and his opponent Greg, also a junior, are still laughing about it. That's the benefit of fighting as friends, they say.
The moment when guitarist John Frusciante giddily held up bloody fingers coming off a five-minute improvised duet, it was clear that even as they near their 25th year together, the Red Hot Chili Peppers still know how to rock.
On an October afternoon, a crowd of 50 students hum "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," an old English carol, and tap their feet to keep the beat. Junior Malcolm Foley hoists 8-year-old Rachel Arbacher onto his shoulders as he utters that famous line: "God bless us, every one."
Good Christmas movies are hard to come by. For every "It's a Wonderful Life," there are hundreds of holiday flicks with no heart, no inspiration and seemingly no scriptwriter — movies like "Deck the Halls."
The tragedy that has befallen "Infamous" is a rare one: The movie follows just over a year behind "Capote," the Oscar-winning bonanza whose plotline was not just similar to "Infamous," but nearly identical. This presents a seemingly insurmountable challenge for the film, namely, to top its predecessor so decisively as to rid movie-goers of the notion that they can skip this rehash of last year's widely acclaimed biopic. Somewhat miraculously, "Infamous" actually does manage to tell the now-familiar story in a uniquely affecting way, and with even more style and pizzazz.
Every year, community groups in Montgomery County send hundreds of thousands of fliers home in students' backpacks. Now, however, MCPS has practically silenced these groups - ironically, under the pretext of protecting free speech.
Fall has arrived, and with it, the onslaught of "serious" movies vying for that ultimate in film recognition: the Oscar. But one of the first and most promising-looking of this season's offerings, Steve Zaillian's "All the King's Men," is far from Oscar-worthy; with its convoluted storyline and disappointing cast, it's a royal mess.