Overview of Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations handle many obligations post-registration, such as annual declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, assessment validation often stands out. While validation has been covered in many posts, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) identifies assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.
Primarily, assessment validation is intended to identify 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 regulations require two types of validation. The first type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type guarantees that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This suggests that validation is performed in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will concentrate on the initial type—assessment tool validation.
Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the first part of the regulation, ensuring ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the execution, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Process of Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
When to Validate Assessment Tools
The aim of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all components, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you get new learning resources, you must conduct assessment tool validation prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Validate new tools right away to ensure they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to perform this type of validation. Perform assessment tool validation also when you:
- Amend your resources
- Expand with new training products on scope
- Examine your course with 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.
Training Products Requiring Validation
Note that this validation guarantees adherence of all learning resources before use. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each evaluation item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include checklists, registers, and evaluation templates developed separately from the student workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the evaluation task and address unit requirements.
Assessment 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 industry experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Impartiality: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Versatility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Validity: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Consistency: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Rules of Evidence
- Validity: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate find it here has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Sufficiency: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Relevance: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Change diapers
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies
Frequent Errors
Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit requirement is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (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 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.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment task must address all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is out of compliance.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each assessment item must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not mislead students or evaluators.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for trainers to accurately assess student competence.
Assurance During Audits
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these guarantees, you must wait for an audit before they assist with noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the principles of assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment tools are reliable with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.