Overview of Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) are responsible for various duties after becoming registered, like annual declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While validation has been reviewed in multiple posts, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment review as granular review of the assessment process.
At its core, validation of assessments is aimed at identifying which parts of an RTO’s assessment methods 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, meet the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The standards require two forms of validation. The first type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This implies that we perform validation both before and after the assessment. This article will concentrate on the primary type—validation of assessment tools.
The Two Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Sometimes called pre-assessment validation or verification, concerns the first part of the rule, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the execution, guaranteeing that RTO assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
Timing for Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of assessment tool validation is to verify that all elements, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you acquire new educational resources, you must carry out validation of assessment tools before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Validate new resources immediately to ensure they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to conduct this type of validation. Conduct assessment tool validation also when you:
- Improve your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Assess your course with training product updates
- Identify potential risks in your learning resources 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
Bear in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all training materials before student use. All RTOs must validate materials for each course unit.
Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation
To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It shows which assessment items meet subject requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also verify if directions for assessors are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, registers, and forms designed separately from the student workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment activity and meet course unit requirements.
Validation Panel
Regulation 1.11 specifies the requirements for validation panel members. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually mandate all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Fairness: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Is click here the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Validity: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Consistency: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Rules of Evidence
- Validity: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Timeliness: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one required performance evidence asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- 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 criteria 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 Nurture babies and toddlers 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 earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each evaluation task must address all criteria, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.
Be Specific!
Each assessment item must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not confuse students or trainers.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Not using double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for trainers to accurately judge student competence.
Audit Guarantees
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these guarantees, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the assessment principles and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment tools are valid with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.