i will introduce driscoll, who will talk to you about the program. and how the design program is organized. thank you. >> i am the executive director with the center for architecture and design. i am happy that this is something that is fine, because this will be different than a lot of the presentations that you will see. we do a variety of programs for the community as well as professionals. in 2005 we established the center for architecture and design, which was focused on working with the general public on issues of design. since 2007 we've partnered with the magazine, which is no longer with us on matching designers with design challenges to rethink the intractable urban problems. with a degree from the national endowment for the arts, we developed five design challenges with the nonprofits and city agencies this year. the other clients include the city department of emergency services, the seven cisco bicycle coalition, the visitors bureau. results of these other challenges will be presented at the architecture and the city festival on septembe

and in fact, i think the state commissioner at the time, dave driscoll in massachusetts, when they implemented their high school graduation requirement, he said something to the effect of we decided that politically it was easier to hold students accountable than hold adults accountable. once we held students accountable, then the adults had to step forward and do what they needed to do to make sure that students were successful. >> if i could just add to that. you know, 30, 40 years of research shows when kids are held to higher expectations, they do better. so the adults in the classroom, the adults in the building, absolutely have to set those expectations, whether they're kids with disabilities or english learners, kids that are held to higher expectations do better. >> ok. a couple of people in the back. then we'll come up front. >> i'm virginia spatz from capital community news here in d.c. i was struck by the enthusiasm for rhode island's plan to keep children from having ratings ineffective for two years in a row. here in d.c., for example, there are so many neighborhoods where the sch