Overview of Assessment Validation
Training Organisations handle many responsibilities post-registration, such as annual declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments frequently stands out. While validation has been covered in many posts, a review of the basics is necessary. ASQA describes assessment review as granular review of the assessment process.
Fundamentally, assessment validation is dedicated to 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 rules mandate two forms of validation. The primary type of validation of assessments checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This implies that validation is carried out both before and after the assessment. This article will concentrate on the primary type—assessment tool validation.
Overview of Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the initial part of the clause, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the execution, making sure RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
When to Validate Assessment Tools
The goal of assessment tool validation is to make sure that all elements, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you get new educational resources, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new materials as soon as possible to confirm they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to perform this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:
- Improve your resources
- Integrate new training products on scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Recognise 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?
Remember that this validation guarantees adherence of all learning resources before use. All RTOs must validate resources for each unit.
Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment tasks meet subject requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also ensure if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Supplementary 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 activity and comply with unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for 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 industry experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Equity: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Adaptability: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Evidence Rules
- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words in awesome site the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one performance criteria 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 requirement is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing the tasks.
Be Careful with Plurals!
Pay attention to the numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care 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 does not fulfill the requirement.
All or Nothing Competence
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s not compliant. Each assessment task must meet all requirements, or the student is not yet competent, and the evaluation tool is out of compliance.
Can You Be More 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 guidelines do not mislead students or assessors.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Avoiding 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, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these promises, you must wait for an audit before they assist with noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are compliant with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.