Overview of Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) have many obligations upon registration, including annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments is particularly challenging. While validation has been covered in several articles, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment validation as granular review of the evaluation process.
Essentially, assessment validation is intended to identify which parts of an RTO's assessment 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 SRTOs 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 regulations specify two types of validation. The initial type of assessment review checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This suggests that validation is carried out pre- and post-assessment. This article will discuss the primary type—validation of assessment tools.
Overview of Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, is related to the initial part of the regulation, ensuring compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is related to the conduct, ensuring Registered Training Organisations conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all aspects, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you get new educational resources, you must perform validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new resources right away to confirm they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to conduct this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:
- Improve your resources
- Include 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.
Selecting Training Products for Validation
Remember that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before being used. All RTOs must validate resources for each unit.
Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:
- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for trainers are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment task are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Additional Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, registers, and forms developed separately from the learner workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the evaluation task and comply with course unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for panel members. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually ask all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including field experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Impartiality: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Versatility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Consistency: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Rules of Evidence
- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Currency: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks 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 required performance evidence asks students to:
- Change diapers
- 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
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Frequent Errors
Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be performing the tasks.
Be Careful with Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 calls for 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 enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if find it here students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must address all requirements, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.
Provide Specific Details
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the assessor’s judgment on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not confuse students or evaluators.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Not using double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for trainers to accurately judge 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 for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the Principles of Assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment tools are compliant with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.