Introduction
RTOs manage multiple responsibilities after becoming registered, such as yearly reports, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, assessment validation often stands out. While validation has been covered in many posts, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies validation of assessments as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.
Essentially, validation of assessments is designed to identify 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 Standards for RTOs 2015, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, adhere to 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 primary type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The other type verifies that assessments are conducted according to the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will focus on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.
Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the first part of the regulation, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the conduct, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all elements, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new learning resources, you must perform validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Check new materials as soon as possible to confirm they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to conduct this type of validation. Conduct validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Improve your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Check your course against training product updates
- Detect 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.
Training Products Needing Validation
Remember that this validation guarantees adherence of all educational resources before being used. All RTOs must validate resources for each subject unit.
Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet subject requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor more info Guide: Also ensure if directions for trainers are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment task are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include checklists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates developed separately from the learner workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment task and meet unit requirements.
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 require all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Current Professional Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Equity: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Flexibility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Dependability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?
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?
- Completeness: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Key Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. 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 appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development
Frequent Errors
Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be carrying out the tasks.
Watch Out for the Plurals!
Pay attention to the frequency. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care 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 won’t cut it.
All or Not Competent
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s not compliant. Each assessment task must cover all specifications, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.
Be Specific!
Each assessment item must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your instructions do not mislead students or evaluators.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for assessors to accurately assess student competence.
Audit Guarantees
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these guarantees, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are reliable with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.