Assessment Validation Overview
Training Organisations handle numerous responsibilities after becoming registered, like yearly reports, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing adherence. 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 describes assessment review as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.
In essence, assessment review is dedicated to 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 require two types of validation. The primary type of validation of assessments ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type 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 concentrate on the initial type—assessment tool validation.
Understanding Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Sometimes called pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the first part of the rule, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the conduct, guaranteeing that RTO assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Timing for Assessment Tool Validation
The aim of assessment tool validation is to verify that all elements, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you obtain new learning resources, you must conduct assessment tool validation prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Validate new materials right away to confirm they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to perform this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Enhance your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Review your course against training product updates
- Spot 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
Bear in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all learning resources before use. All RTOs must validate training products for each subject 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.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if directions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each evaluation item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and evaluation templates created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and meet subject requirements.
Validation Panel
Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for validation panel members. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually ask all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- Certificate awesome site IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Impartiality: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Versatility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Validity: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Relevance: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Change diapers
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Common Pitfalls
Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit requirement is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing the tasks.
Mind the 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.
All or Not Competent
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each evaluation task must meet all criteria, or the student is not competent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.
Provide Specific Details
Each assessment 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 baffle students or assessors.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Not using double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for assessors to accurately evaluate student competence.
Audit Guarantees
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these guarantees, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are compliant with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.