{Guide to Assessment Validation regarding Educational Institutions within Australia —
Intro to RTO Assessment ValidationRegistered Training Organisations are responsible for many tasks following registration, such as annual declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments is particularly challenging. While we've discussed validation in multiple discussions, a review of the basics is necessary. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) identifies assessment validation as a quality review of the assessment procedure.
Primarily, assessment review is dedicated to identifying which parts of an RTO’s assessment procedures 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, 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 regulations 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 other type verifies that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that we perform validation 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: Also referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, is related to the initial part of the rule, focusing on compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Pertains to the conduct, guaranteeing that RTO assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of validating assessment tools is to verify that all aspects, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you get new training materials, you must carry out assessment tool validation prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Validate new materials as soon as possible to ensure they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to conduct this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:
- Amend your resources
- Expand with new training products on scope
- Compare your course with training product updates
- Spot 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.
What Training Products Need Validation?
Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all training materials before being used. 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 training materials:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also verify if directions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates created separately from the workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and address subject requirements.
Panel for Validation
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 industry 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 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Impartiality: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Versatility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Evidence Rules
- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Key Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- 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
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development
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 criteria is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be carrying out the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care 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 is not sufficient.
All or Nothing Competence
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s non-compliant. Each assessment task must address all specifications, or the student is not competent, and the assessment tool is not compliant.
Can You Be More Specific?
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 directions do not baffle students or assessors.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately assess student competence.
Ensuring Audit Compliance
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 influences your compliance status, so it's better to take here a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the assessment principles and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment methods are reliable with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.