Assessment Validation Overview
Training Organisations handle multiple obligations post-registration, like annual statements, AVETMISS reporting, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation frequently stands out. While we've discussed validation in multiple articles, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA identifies assessment review as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.
Principally, validation of assessments is designed to identify 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 regulations require two forms of validation. The first type of validation of assessments checks conformity with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The other type guarantees that assessments follow the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This indicates that we perform validation in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will concentrate on the initial type—assessment tool validation.
Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Commonly called pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the first part of the regulation, ensuring ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the implementation, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to 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 verify that all components, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are included by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you purchase new educational resources, you must perform assessment tool validation before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new materials right away to verify they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to perform this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:
- Update your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Examine 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 compliance of all educational resources before use. All RTOs must validate training products for each course unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if guidelines for evaluators are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment task are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, evaluation registers, and forms designed separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the evaluation task and address click here subject requirements.
Assessment Validation Panel
Regulation 1.11 specifies the requirements for members of the validation panel. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually ask all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Fairness: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Versatility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Reliability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?
Rules of Evidence
- Appropriateness: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Completeness: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Timeliness: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- 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 requirement is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be doing the tasks.
Be Careful with Plurals!
Pay attention to the numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers requires 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 won’t cut it.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each evaluation task must meet all requirements, or the student is incompetent, and the evaluation tool is non-compliant.
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 guidelines do not confuse students or evaluators.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Not using double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for assessors to accurately assess student competence.
Assurance During Audits
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these guarantees, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are compliant with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.