Introduction
RTOs have multiple obligations post-registration, like annual declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While validation has been reviewed in several posts, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority defines assessment review as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.
Fundamentally, assessment review 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 SRTOs 2015 regulations, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, adhere to the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The standards mandate two types of validation. The initial type of assessment validation ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The subsequent validation verifies that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that we perform validation both before and after the assessment. This article will focus on the first type—validation of assessment tools.
Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the primary part of the regulation, aimed at compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Pertains to the implementation, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
Best Time for Conducting Assessment
The goal of validating assessment tools is to verify that all components, performance standards, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new learning resources, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new materials immediately to verify they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to conduct this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:
- Amend your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Examine 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.
Identifying Training Products for Validation
Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before use. All RTOs must validate training products 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 indicates which evaluation items meet subject requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also ensure if directions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear standards for each evaluation item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Additional Resources: These may include lists, registers, and templates designed separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and meet unit requirements.
Assessment Validation Panel
Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for members of the validation panel. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually ask all trainers and more info assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current 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: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Dependability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Appropriateness: 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 the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Currency: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Key Considerations for 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 Baby and Toddler Care, one required performance evidence asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development
Common Pitfalls
Asking students to describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old does not meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be doing the tasks.
Mind 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.
All or Nothing Competence
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s not compliant. Each evaluation task must cover all criteria, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment tool is out of compliance.
Be Specific!
Each evaluation 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 instructions do not mislead students or assessors.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it easier 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 promises, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the principles of assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are valid with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.