Introduction
Registered Training Organisations manage many obligations following registration, like yearly declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments frequently stands out. While we've discussed validation in multiple posts, let's return to the basics. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.
Essentially, assessment validation is dedicated to identifying which parts of an RTO’s assessment procedures are effective and which need improvement. With a proper grasp of its key aspects, validation becomes less daunting. According to Clause 1.8 of the SRTOs 2015 regulations, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, adhere to the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The regulations mandate two forms of validation. The initial type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This suggests that we perform validation both before and after the assessment. This article will focus on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.
Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the first part of the rule, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the implementation, making sure RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Guide to Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all components, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new training materials, you must carry out assessment tool validation prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Check new materials as soon as possible to ensure they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to conduct this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Modify your resources
- Include new training products on scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Note your learning resources as a risk during your risk assessment
ASQA uses a risk-based approach for regulating RTOs and requires regular risk assessments. Therefore, student complaints about learning resources are an ideal time to conduct assessment tool validation.
What Training Products Require Validation
Remember that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before student use. All RTOs must validate training products for each subject unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment tasks meet subject requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Other Related Resources: These may include checklists, evaluation registers, and templates created separately from the learner workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment activity and meet subject requirements.
Assessment Validation Panel
Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for members of the validation panel. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually ask all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including field experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Fairness: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Adaptability: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Evidence Rules
- Relevance: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Timeliness: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Common Pitfalls
Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit requirement is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be performing the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 demands the students to complete the tasks at least once on two different babies under 12 months of age. Having students complete the tasks listed twice on just one baby is not sufficient.
All or Not Competent
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned this site earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each evaluation task must address all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.
Be Specific!
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not confuse students or trainers.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Not using double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately evaluate student competence.
Assurance During Audits
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these promises, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these recommendations and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are valid with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.