Intro to Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations handle multiple tasks upon registration, like annual declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been covered in many posts, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies validation of assessments as granular review of the assessment process.
At its core, assessment validation is intended 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, 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 initial type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The subsequent validation verifies that assessments follow the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This indicates that validation is performed in both pre- and post-assessment stages. 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, concerns the initial part of the clause, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the implementation, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Optimal Timing for Assessment Tool Validation
The goal of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all components, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are included by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new learning resources, you must carry out validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Check new resources immediately to ensure they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to conduct this type of validation. Do validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Improve your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Assess your course with training product updates
- Spot 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 Need Validation?
Keep in mind that this validation guarantees adherence of all training materials before being used. All RTOs must validate materials for each subject unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also check if instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and forms designed separately from the learner workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and address unit requirements.
Validation Panel
Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for members of the validation panel. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually require all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Fairness: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Adaptability: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Dependability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Validity: 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?
- Originality: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Relevance: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency these guys and up-to-date industry practices?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies
Frequent Errors
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 evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be doing the tasks.
Be Careful with 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 students complete the tasks listed twice on just one baby won’t cut it.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each assessment item must meet all specifications, or the student is not competent, and the assessment method is not compliant.
Be Specific!
Each assessment item must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not baffle students or assessors.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Steering clear of 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, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these assurances, 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 evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment methods are reliable with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.