WHAT is BRAINworks?
Berkshire Regional Arts Integration Network (BRAINworks) is a federally-funded grant program providing professional development in arts integration for Berkshire County educators across PreK-12 classrooms, leveraging the region's existing cultural assets.
The program is a collaboration between the North Adams Public Schools and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, in alignment with the Berkshire County Education Task Force.
Vision & Mission
VISION
Create a county where the arts are at the center of the curriculum, engaging with and benefitting from the rich cultural assets that are a pillar of Berkshire County.
MISSION
To grow and expand educators' instructional practice in arts integration across the curriculum in order to increase rigor and deepen student learning.
MISSION STRATEGIES
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Offer professional development to Berkshire County teachers, and engage with area cultural assets
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Promote use of intentional planning and assessment strategies
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Engage educators in the use of Webb's Depth of Knowledge schema to understand, scaffold, and deepen rigor in lessons through the arts
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Deepen reflective practice for educators in both PreK-12 and cultural organizations through the creation of Learning Stories, including robust assessment of arts-integrated learning
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Document and disseminate promising practices online and through the county-wide learning management system
Arts Integration and Webb's Depth of Knowledge
BRAINworks provides arts integration strategies that incorporate Webb’s Depth of Knowledge. What are these concepts? They’re large ideas that encompass assessment, rigor, artistic techniques and the scaffolding of learning.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts offers a comprehensive interpretation of arts integration: defining it as “an approach to teaching in which student construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an art form with another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both” (Silverstein and Layne, 2010). This type of teaching strategy can take the form of using creative movement to teach and assess learning about the water cycle, or creating a collage to illustrate the main themes of a difficult piece of literature.
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (or, DOK) is a schema for understanding academic rigor, with four levels that help educators identify how rigorous a student task might be. Developed by educator Norman Webb, DOK categorizes the academic actions into four levels. Each subsequent level indicates increased rigor, and prompts educators to consider the cognitive effort required by a student to complete a task. Webb’s Depth of Knowledge is often illustrated by a wheel with a section for each of the four levels.
How is all this work connected?
All the arts integration initiatives are aligned!
From 2023-2024, funding from BERK12, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, the Pittsfield Education Enrichment Fund, and the Mill Town Foundation have supported the:
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the development of year-round offerings for arts integration professional development for Berkshire County public school educators.
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the expansion of the Berkshire Portrait of a Graduate arts alignment work
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advancement of DESE arts education initiatives including research support and piloting the Arts & Cultural Vitality Index
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the continued operation of a professional learning network, the Berkshire Cultural Assets Network (BCAN) for arts education and community engagement staff working in arts organizations across Berkshire County.
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the continued pursuit of grant opportunities.
Improving Teacher Quality Grant Program
This federally-funded project serves preschool through second grade teachers in Berkshire County schools, including those in the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District, Child Care of the Berkshires, Head Start, North Adams Public Schools, North Berkshire School Union, and Pittsfield Public Schools. Since its inception in 2014, the program has emphasized the STEAM education model and the benefits of arts integrated curriculum. Professional development opportunities include workshops, summer classes, and in-classroom coaching.
