Introduction
RTOs have many responsibilities post-registration, including yearly reports, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While validation has been reviewed in several publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) defines validation of assessments as granular review of the assessment process.
At its core, validation of assessments is designed to identify 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 Standards for RTOs 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 rules require two forms of validation. The initial type of validation of assessments checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This implies that validation is carried out pre- and post-assessment. This article will focus on the initial type—assessment tool validation.
Two Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Sometimes called pre-assessment validation or verification, concerns the primary part of the rule, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the implementation, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Best Time for Conducting Assessment
The aim of assessment tool validation is to make sure that all elements, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new training materials, you must carry out 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 as soon as possible to verify they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to do this type of validation. Do validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Enhance your resources
- Expand with new training products on scope
- Assess your course with training product updates
- Detect 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.
What Training Products Require Validation
Bear in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all learning resources before student use. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also verify if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and templates developed separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they match the evaluation task and meet course unit requirements.
Validation Panel
Regulation 1.11 specifies the requirements for members of the validation panel. It states assessment 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 validation panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following certifications 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?
- Adaptability: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Validity: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Reliability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?
Evidence Rules
- 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?
- Originality: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Timeliness: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 awesome site Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one required performance evidence asks students to:
- Change diapers
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies
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 specification is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be performing 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 does not fulfill the requirement.
All or Nothing Competence
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each evaluation task must meet all criteria, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.
Provide Specific Details
Each assessment task must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not confuse students or evaluators.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately evaluate student competence.
Ensuring Audit Compliance
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these promises, you must wait for an audit before they assist with noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these recommendations and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are reliable with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.