Overview
Training Organisations manage multiple responsibilities upon registration, like yearly reports, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been reviewed in multiple publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) defines assessment review as a quality review of the evaluation process.
Principally, validation of assessments is intended to identify 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 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 specify two types of validation. The initial type of assessment review checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The subsequent validation verifies that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that validation is carried out in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will discuss the first type—validation of assessment tools.
Overview of Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, is related to the initial part of the clause, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the implementation, confirming that RTO assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation
The goal of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all elements, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you obtain new learning resources, you must carry out validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new materials as soon as possible to ensure they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to conduct this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:
- Modify your resources
- Include new training products on scope
- Examine your course with training product updates
- Flag 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 to Validate
Note that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before use. All RTOs must validate training products for each unit.
Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment tasks meet unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also check if directions for assessors are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment task are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, evaluation registers, and templates developed separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they match the evaluation task and comply with subject requirements.
Panel for Validation
Regulation 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 require all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Current Professional Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Impartiality: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Flexibility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Validity: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Authenticity: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Relevance: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
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 evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be check here doing the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the frequency. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care 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 does not fulfill the requirement.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each evaluation task must meet all criteria, or the student is not competent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.
Provide Specific Details
Each assessment item must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your instructions do not confuse students or evaluators.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for assessors to accurately assess 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 for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are valid with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.