Overview of Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) manage numerous duties upon registration, which include yearly declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation often stands out. While validation has been covered in many discussions, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority defines assessment review as granular review of the evaluation process.
Primarily, assessment validation is aimed at 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 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 regulations require two forms of validation. The initial type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The subsequent validation guarantees that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This suggests that validation is performed in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will discuss the primary type—validation of assessment tools.
Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, relates to the initial part of the regulation, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the execution, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Process of Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Timing for Assessment Tool Validation
The aim of validating assessment tools is to verify that all aspects, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you get new educational resources, you must conduct assessment tool validation before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Validate new materials immediately to ensure they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to perform this type of validation. Conduct assessment tool validation also when you:
- Enhance your resources
- Integrate new training products on scope
- Evaluate your course with training product updates
- Identify potential risks in your learning resources 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 Needing Validation
Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all learning resources before use. All RTOs must validate materials for each subject 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 evaluation items meet unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- 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.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment task are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include lists, here evaluation registers, and forms designed separately from the workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and comply with course unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for panel members. 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:
- Vocational Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Impartiality: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Flexibility: 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?
- Reliability: 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?
- Completeness: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Genuineness: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. 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
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development
Common Pitfalls
Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit requirement is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be performing 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 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.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each assessment task must meet all criteria, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each assessment task must have clear and specific benchmark 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 trainers to accurately evaluate student competence.
Assurance During Audits
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these assurances, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the assessment principles and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment tools are compliant with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.