Overview of Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) manage numerous tasks post-registration, which include yearly reports, AVETMISS data submission, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation is notably challenging. While we've discussed validation in many posts, let's return to the basics. The Australian Skills Quality Authority defines assessment review as quality assurance of the evaluation process.
At its core, assessment review is about identifying which parts of an RTO’s evaluation 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, 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 ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The subsequent validation ensures that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This indicates that validation is performed pre- and post-assessment. This article will concentrate on the initial type—assessment tool validation.
Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the first part of the clause, aimed at meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is concerned with the execution, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools
Best Time for Conducting Assessment
The purpose of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all aspects, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new educational 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. Validate new resources immediately to confirm they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to do this type of validation. Perform assessment tool validation also when you:
- Modify your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Flag your learning resources as a risk during your risk assessment
The Australian Skills Quality Authority employs a risk-based approach for regulating RTOs and expects regular risk assessments. Therefore, student complaints about learning resources are an ideal time to conduct assessment tool validation.
Training Products Requiring Validation
Note that this validation guarantees adherence of all training materials before use. All RTOs must validate training products for each course unit.
Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Tool: 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 response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also ensure if guidelines for assessors are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Additional Resources: These may include lists, registers, and evaluation templates developed separately from the student workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the evaluation task and address unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for validation panel members. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually require all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Impartiality: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Adaptability: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on 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?
Rules of Evidence
- Validity: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Authenticity: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Relevance: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words 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 performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Change diapers
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- 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
Typical Mistakes
Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing 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 is not sufficient.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each evaluation task must meet all specifications, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.
Be Specific!
Each assessment task must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not baffle students or trainers.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward 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 preventative and compliant approach.
By following these recommendations and understanding the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence, you find it here can ensure that your evaluation tools are reliable with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.