Overview
RTOs manage numerous duties post-registration, like yearly reports, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments is particularly challenging. While we've discussed validation in several articles, let's return to the basics. ASQA describes assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.
At its core, assessment validation is aimed at identifying 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 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 rules mandate two forms of validation. The first type of validation of assessments ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type ensures that assessments are conducted according to the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that we perform validation both before and after the assessment. This article will focus on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.
Understanding Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, concerns the first part of the regulation, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is concerned with the execution, confirming that RTO assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Best Time for Conducting Assessment
The goal of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all aspects, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new training materials, you must carry out validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new resources right away to ensure they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to perform this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Modify your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Compare your course with training product updates
- Detect 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.
Which Training Products Should You Validate?
Bear in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before being used. All RTOs must validate materials for each subject unit.
Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable check here as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for trainers are sufficient and if clear criteria for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, evaluation registers, and forms developed separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they match the evaluation task and address subject requirements.
Panel for Validation
Regulation 1.11 specifies the requirements for 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 Professional Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- 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 equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Flexibility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Reliability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Validity: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- 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 task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development
Frequent Errors
Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be doing the tasks.
Watch Out for the Plurals!
Pay attention to the numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers calls for 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 itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must cover all requirements, or the student is incompetent, and the evaluation tool is non-compliant.
Provide Specific Details
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not mislead students or trainers.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Not using double-barrelled questions makes it easier 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 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 principles of assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are valid with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.