Overview of Assessment Validation
RTOs manage multiple duties upon registration, which include yearly declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation frequently stands out. While validation has been reviewed in multiple posts, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) describes assessment review as granular review of the assessment process.
Fundamentally, assessment review is about identifying which parts of an RTO’s assessment procedures 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, meet the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The rules mandate two forms of validation. The first type of validation of assessments guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments adhere to the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that validation is carried out both before and after the assessment. This article will focus on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.
Understanding Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the first part of the clause, ensuring compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is concerned with the implementation, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Guide to Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
When Should Assessment Tool Validation Be Conducted?
The purpose of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all elements, criteria for performance, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you purchase new training materials, you must conduct validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Check new resources as soon as possible to ensure they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to perform this type of validation. Do validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Amend your resources
- Include new training products on scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Detect 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
Remember that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before being used. All RTOs must validate resources for each unit.
Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:
- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It indicates which evaluation items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- 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.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for trainers are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and evaluation templates created separately from the workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment task and meet unit requirements.
Assessment 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 ask all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Fairness: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Is 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?
Evidence Rules
- Relevance: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Adequacy: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Timeliness: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Important Factors in 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 Baby and this site Toddler Care, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Change diapers
- 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
Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit requirement is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the frequency. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 requires 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 only complete half the tasks, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment item must address all criteria, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment tool is not compliant.
Provide Specific Details
Each assessment item must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not baffle students or evaluators.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Not using double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for assessors to accurately evaluate student competence.
Ensuring Audit Compliance
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these assurances, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are valid with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.