Portfolio Projects in TPA Music Classes

Each student in TPA fine arts classes participates in a portfolio project.  A portfolio is a representative selection of each student's work.In the performing arts, we document each student's achievement by making video recordings.  In music, the videos are performances by the student on the instrument being studied.  In 7th and 8th grades, this is the recorder.  In my classes, we enter 4 "archives" (submissions) in each student's portfolio:

1. A solo performance recorded on video, early in the semester.
2. Another solo performance recorded on video, later in the semester.
3. The public concert in which all students participate.  This year it is on March 3.
4. A written reflection, submitted at the time of the final exam, of the student's own assessment of what he or she has learned this semester that is of value.

The portfolios constitute the qualitative, formative and cumulative assessments of the student's progress.  The quantitative cumulative assessment of the student's progress is a comparison of the student's performance on the written pretest and post-test.  Other formative assessments include frequent quizzes, tests, homework, and in-class work.