Introduction
Registered Training Organisations handle various duties after becoming registered, like annual statements, AVETMISS data submission, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While we've discussed validation in several articles, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment review as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.
Principally, assessment validation is aimed at 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, 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 rules require two types of validation. The initial type of assessment review checks conformity with 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 implies that validation is performed both before and after the assessment. This article will concentrate on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.
Understanding Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the primary part of the regulation, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the conduct, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Guide to Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all elements, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you obtain new learning resources, you must perform assessment tool validation prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new tools immediately to ensure they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to perform this type of validation. Conduct validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Modify your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Check your course against training product updates
- Identify potential risks in your learning resources 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.
Which Training Products Should You Validate?
Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all training materials before being used. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.
Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:
- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment items meet unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also check if guidelines for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment task are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Other Related Resources: These may include lists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates developed separately from the workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and meet course unit requirements.
Assessment Validation Panel
Clause 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 field experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Fairness: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Flexibility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Validity: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Rules of Evidence
- Validity: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Timeliness: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one required performance evidence asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development
Common Pitfalls
Asking students to describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old does not meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., evidence of knowledge), 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 Nurture babies and toddlers requires the students to complete the tasks at least once on two different babies under 12 months of age. Having website students complete the tasks listed twice on just one baby is not sufficient.
Full Competence 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 requirements, or the student is not competent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.
Can You Be More Specific?
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 principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are valid with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.