Introduction
Registered Training Organisations have multiple tasks post-registration, which include yearly declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments frequently stands out. While validation has been covered in multiple articles, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA identifies assessment review as quality assurance of the assessment process.
In essence, assessment validation is aimed at 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, comply with the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The rules require two forms of validation. The first type of assessment review checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The subsequent validation guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that validation is performed pre- and post-assessment. This article will concentrate on the primary type—validation of assessment tools.
Differentiating Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the primary part of the rule, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the execution, confirming that RTO assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Timing for Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all components, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new learning resources, you must carry out validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new materials right away to verify they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to conduct this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Revise your resources
- Expand with new training products on scope
- Assess your course with training product updates
- Spot your learning resources as a risk during your risk assessment
The Australian Skills Quality Authority employs a risk-based approach for regulating RTOs and expects regular risk assessments. Therefore, student complaints about learning resources are an ideal time to conduct assessment tool validation.
Training Products Needing Validation
Keep in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before student use. All RTOs must validate resources for each subject unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment tasks meet subject requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also ensure if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each evaluation item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Other Related Resources: These may include lists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates developed separately from the workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the evaluation task and meet unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for members of the validation panel. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually require all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Fairness: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- 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?
Rules of Evidence
- Validity: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Currency: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Key Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Typical Mistakes
Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit requirement is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be doing the tasks.
Be Careful with Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 requires 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 won’t cut it.
All or Nothing Competence
Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment task must cover all requirements, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.
Be Specific!
Each assessment item must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the assessor’s judgment on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not confuse students or trainers.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for trainers to accurately judge student competence.
Ensuring Audit Compliance
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, awesome site with these assurances, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.
By following these recommendations and understanding the Principles of Assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment methods are compliant with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.