Overview of Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) handle multiple responsibilities post-registration, which include annual declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is particularly challenging. While validation has been covered in several articles, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) identifies validation of assessments as granular review of the assessment process.
Fundamentally, validation of assessments is intended to identify which parts of an RTO’s assessment methods 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, meet 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 assessment review guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The subsequent validation verifies that assessments adhere to the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that validation is carried out in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will concentrate on the primary type—assessment tool validation.
Differentiating Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known 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: Relates to the implementation, making sure RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
When to Validate Assessment Tools
The aim of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all components, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are included by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new educational resources, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Validate new materials immediately to ensure they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to do this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:
- Enhance your resources
- Expand with new training products on scope
- Compare your course with training product updates
- Identify potential risks in your learning resources 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 Needing Validation
Bear in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before being used. All RTOs must validate resources for each subject unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet subject requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear standards for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, registers, and evaluation templates designed separately from the workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and address course unit requirements.
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 ask all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including field experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Vocational Skills and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Equity: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Adaptability: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?
Rules of Evidence
- Appropriateness: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Authenticity: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Relevance: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks in the unit criteria 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 diapers
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies
Frequent Errors
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 evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be performing the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care 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 enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment task must address all criteria, or the student is not competent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.
Provide Specific Details
Each assessment task must have clear and specific Assessment validation tools standard answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not baffle students or trainers.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for trainers to accurately evaluate 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 assist with noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the assessment principles and evidence rules, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are compliant with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.