Assessment Validation Overview
Training Organisations manage multiple duties following registration, which include yearly reports, AVETMISS reporting, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments is notably challenging. While we've discussed validation in multiple discussions, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment review as granular review of the assessment process.
Fundamentally, assessment validation is dedicated to 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, meet the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The standards require two forms of validation. The initial type of assessment review ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments adhere to the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that validation is carried out pre- and post-assessment. This article will concentrate on the first type—assessment tool validation.
What are the Two Types of Assessment Validation?
- Assessment Tool Validation: Referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the first part of the regulation, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is related to the conduct, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
Best Time for Conducting Assessment
The goal of assessment tool validation is to verify that all components, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you acquire new educational resources, you must carry out assessment tool validation before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new tools right away to verify they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to do this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:
- Update your resources
- Integrate new training products on scope
- Review your course against training product updates
- Flag your learning resources as a risk during your risk assessment
ASQA uses a risk-based approach for regulating RTOs and requires regular risk assessments. Therefore, student complaints about learning resources are an ideal time to conduct assessment tool validation.
Identifying Training Products for Validation
Note that this validation ensures compliance of all training materials before use. All RTOs must validate materials 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 Resource: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment tasks meet subject requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if instructions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also ensure if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and evaluation templates created separately from the learner workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the evaluation task and meet subject requirements.
Validation Panel
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 industry experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Impartiality: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Dependability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
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?
- Adequacy: 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?
- Currency: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?
Key Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks find it here in the unit requirements 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 nappies
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies 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
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies
Frequent Errors
Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), 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 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 itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must meet all specifications, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each assessment task must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not mislead students or assessors.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Not using double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for assessors to accurately assess 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 assist with noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are compliant with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.