Overview
Training Organisations have numerous obligations upon registration, which include annual declarations, AVETMISS data submission, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation is notably challenging. While validation has been covered in many articles, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority defines assessment review as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.
Primarily, validation of assessments is designed to identify 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 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 standards require two types of validation. The initial type of assessment validation guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This implies that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will discuss the first type—validation of assessment tools.
Understanding Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the initial part of the clause, aimed at meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is concerned with the conduct, ensuring Registered Training Organisations conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
Best Time for Conducting Assessment
The purpose of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all elements, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new training materials, you must conduct assessment tool validation before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Validate new materials immediately to confirm they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to conduct this type of validation. Do validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Modify your resources
- Incorporate new training products on scope
- Check your course against training product updates
- Identify 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.
Which Training Products Should You Validate?
Keep in mind that this validation guarantees adherence of all training materials before being used. All RTOs must validate materials for each subject unit.
Resources Needed to Start 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 indicates which evaluation items meet subject requirements, assisting in 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 ensure if guidelines for trainers are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment task are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Additional Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates designed separately from the student workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the evaluation task and address course unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for panel members. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually mandate all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Equity: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Versatility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Consistency: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Relevance: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Timeliness: 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 criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. 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 babies for sleep and help them settle
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Typical Mistakes
Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be performing the tasks.
Be Careful with Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. 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.
All or Not Competent
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must cover all criteria, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.
Can You Be More 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.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately evaluate student competence.
Ensuring Audit Compliance
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these assurances, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This impacts your awesome site compliance record, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines 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.