Overview of Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations handle various responsibilities after becoming registered, such as yearly declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been reviewed in several publications, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) defines assessment review as a quality review of the assessment procedure.
In essence, assessment validation is aimed at identifying which parts of an RTO’s evaluation 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 Standards for RTOs 2015, 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 standards require two forms of validation. The initial type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The other type verifies that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that validation is performed both before and after the assessment. This article will concentrate on the initial type—assessment tool validation.
Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the primary part of the rule, aimed at meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Involves the implementation, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools
When Should Assessment Tool Validation Be Conducted?
The aim of validating assessment tools is to verify that all aspects, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new learning resources, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Review new tools as soon as possible to confirm they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to do this type of validation. Perform assessment tool validation also when you:
- Upgrade your resources
- Expand with new training products on scope
- Check your course against training product updates
- Identify 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.
Training Products Requiring Validation
Bear in mind that this validation guarantees adherence of all learning resources before being used. All RTOs must validate materials for each subject unit.
Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, 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 evaluation 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 instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Additional Resources: These Assessment validation requirements Australia may include lists, logs, and templates developed separately from the learner workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the evaluation task and address subject requirements.
Assessment Validation Panel
Regulation 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 ask all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Equity: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Flexibility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?
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: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Relevance: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, 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
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development
Typical Mistakes
Asking students to describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old does not meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be carrying out the tasks.
Be Careful with Plurals!
Pay attention to the frequency. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 calls for 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.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each evaluation task must address all specifications, or the student is incompetent, and the evaluation tool is non-compliant.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the assessor’s judgment on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your instructions do not mislead students or trainers.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for assessors to accurately judge student competence.
Ensuring Audit Compliance
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these assurances, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are compliant with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.