Overview
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) manage multiple obligations upon registration, like annual declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments frequently stands out. While validation has been reviewed in multiple discussions, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment review as granular review of the evaluation process.
Basically, assessment validation 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 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 standards mandate two forms of validation. The primary type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type ensures 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 focus on the primary type—assessment tool validation.
Overview of Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Commonly called pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the primary part of the rule, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Involves the execution, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation
The goal of assessment tool validation is to verify that all elements, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you get new learning resources, you must perform assessment tool validation before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Review new resources right away to ensure they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to conduct this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Modify your resources
- Incorporate new training products on scope
- Audit 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
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 start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your training materials:
- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet course unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Additional Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, registers, and templates created separately from the learner workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and comply with unit requirements.
Validation Panel
Regulation 1.11 specifies the requirements for panel members. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually require here all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- 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.
Principles of Assessment
- Equity: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Rules of Evidence
- 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?
- Genuineness: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?
Key Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Common Pitfalls
Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be performing the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care 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 students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment item must address all criteria, or the student is incompetent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.
Provide Specific Details
Each assessment 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 guidelines do not confuse students or assessors.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately evaluate 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 assist with noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these recommendations and understanding the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are valid with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.