Assessment Validation Overview
Registered Training Organisations manage various obligations post-registration, such as annual statements, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation frequently stands out. While validation has been reviewed in many discussions, let's return to the basics. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment process.
Fundamentally, validation of assessments 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, comply with the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The standards require two forms of validation. The primary type of assessment validation ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This implies that validation is performed pre- and post-assessment. This article will focus on the initial type—assessment tool validation.
Overview of Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the first part of the rule, focusing on meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Involves the execution, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
Best Time for Conducting Assessment
The purpose of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all elements, criteria for performance, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you obtain new educational resources, you must conduct validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Check new tools immediately to ensure they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to do this type of validation. Conduct assessment tool validation also when you:
- Improve your resources
- Incorporate new training products on scope
- Compare your course with training product updates
- Recognise 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
Remember that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before student use. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.
Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment tasks meet subject requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if directions for assessors are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment task are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Additional Resources: These may include lists, evaluation registers, and templates designed separately from the workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and comply with subject requirements.
Validation Panel
Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for panel members. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually ask all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Impartiality: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Versatility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Consistency: Are the assessment results check it out consistent regardless of who conducts the training?
Evidence Rules
- Relevance: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Sufficiency: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Relevance: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one required performance evidence asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding 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
Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill 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.
Be Careful with Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 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 itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment task must address all requirements, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment tool is not compliant.
Provide Specific Details
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not baffle students or trainers.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for assessors to accurately evaluate student competence.
Audit Guarantees
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these promises, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these recommendations 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.