{Assessment Validation Guide concerning Vocational Training Institutes within the context of Australia —
Intro to Validating Assessments for RTOsRTOs are responsible for multiple duties after becoming registered, which include yearly declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation frequently stands out. While validation has been reviewed in several articles, let's return to the basics. ASQA identifies validation of assessments as granular review of the assessment procedure.
Principally, validation of assessments is concerned with identifying which parts of an RTO's assessment 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, adhere to 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 checks conformity 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 implies that validation is carried out in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will concentrate on the primary type—assessment tool validation.
Understanding Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, relates to the first part of the rule, focusing on compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the conduct, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Process of Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Best Time for Conducting Assessment
The goal of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all aspects, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new learning resources, you must carry out validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Validate new materials immediately to verify they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to perform this type of validation. Conduct validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Revise your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Evaluate your course with 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 to Validate
Note that this validation ensures conformity of all learning resources before use. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.
Resources Required for 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 identifies which assessment items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if directions for assessors are sufficient and if clear standards for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Additional Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and forms created separately from the learner workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the evaluation task and comply these guys with unit requirements.
Assessment 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 mandate all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including field experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Impartiality: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Versatility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Relevance: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Dependability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Rules of Evidence
- Validity: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Timeliness: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the action words in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
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 requirement is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (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 do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each evaluation task must address all criteria, or the student is not competent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each assessment item must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not mislead students or assessors.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for trainers to accurately judge student competence.
Audit Guarantees
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these assurances, you must wait until an audit to address 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 rules of evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are compliant with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.