Overview
Registered Training Organisations have many responsibilities post-registration, like yearly reports, AVETMISS compliance, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been reviewed in several discussions, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment validation as granular review of the assessment process.
Fundamentally, validation of assessments is focused on identifying which parts of an RTO's assessment process 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, 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 primary type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments follow the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that validation is carried out both before and after the assessment. This article will concentrate on the first type—validation of assessment tools.
What are the Two Types of Assessment Validation?
- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the initial part of the regulation, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the implementation, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of assessment tool validation is to verify that all components, criteria for performance, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new educational resources, you must carry out validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Check new materials immediately to verify 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:
- Revise your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Assess your course with training product updates
- Recognise 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.
Which Training Products Should You Validate?
Bear in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all learning resources before student use. All RTOs must validate resources for each unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It indicates which evaluation items meet subject requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also verify if guidelines for evaluators are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment task are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and templates designed separately from the workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment activity and address unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
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 assessors to participate, sometimes including field experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Fairness: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Flexibility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Relevance: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Sufficiency: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and website knowledge?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies
Frequent Errors
Asking students to describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old does not meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be performing the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the frequency. 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 won’t cut it.
All or Nothing Competence
Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment item must cover all specifications, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment method is non-compliant.
Provide Specific Details
Each assessment item must have clear and specific reference 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.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately assess student competence.
Assurance During Audits
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these guarantees, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the principles of assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment tools are valid with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.