I grew up with music teachers doing different ways to grade how I played a test. They wouldn't take the time to tell me what I needed to fix and points taken away was not always fair based on the grade I got. I started as a music teacher testing how I was tested and was immediately not happy with the results. I wanted the students to know what they did wrong, so they could fix their mistakes and I wanted to give comments on how to improve. My school pushed us teachers to have students comment on their own work and show data collected to guide the lessons to the next steps.

This playing test sheet is kept in the class folder, only given to students to read the teachers comments, comment about their own performance, and give themselves a grade they feel they deserve. When students play their instrument, I grade them in 7 catagories and give comments that may range in helping correct their mistakes (not all instruments fall in the same "fixing" catagory, so the personal note helps) and I write a quick note on what was great (example "Great Rhythm" "Great Sound"). When my principle comes in, I can show the students' many tests over the semester or school year that has personal comments/reflection from the teacher and student, shows the students progression in their performances, and it follows them to the next school year in my music class to keep a running track of "student data".

I personally only do a couple tests a semester. When testing it is nice to see growth from previous tests, but also if they are still having problems in an area I can then go to the next steps in helping them one on one.

If you are a middle school with a high school connected to your school, that's how mine is, you can then give these test sheets to the next teacher to continue the student growth.