Intro to Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations have various responsibilities post-registration, including yearly reports, AVETMISS compliance, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been reviewed in many posts, let's return to the basics. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment validation as granular review of the assessment process.
Essentially, assessment review is focused on identifying 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 SRTOs 2015 regulations, 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 require two types of validation. The first type of assessment validation checks conformity with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This implies that validation is performed both before and after the assessment. This article will discuss the initial type—assessment tool validation.
What are the Two Types of Assessment Validation?
- Assessment Tool Validation: Sometimes called pre-assessment validation or verification, is related to the initial part of the clause, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is concerned with the conduct, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Process of Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
When Should Assessment Tool Validation Be Conducted?
The aim of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all elements, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new training materials, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Check new tools immediately to ensure they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to conduct this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Enhance your resources
- Include new training products on scope
- Check your course against 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.
What Training Products Require Validation
Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all training materials before student use. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.
Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Other Related Resources: These may include lists, evaluation registers, and forms designed separately from the workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the evaluation task and meet unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for validation panel members. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. check here However, RTOs usually mandate all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Impartiality: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Versatility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Originality: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Relevance: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies
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 requirement is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based 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 Nurture babies and toddlers demands 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 lists. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each evaluation task must cover all criteria, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment method is non-compliant.
Provide Specific Details
Each assessment item must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the assessor’s judgment on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your instructions do not confuse students or evaluators.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
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 until an audit to address noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are reliable with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.