{Tools for Assessment Validation regarding Registered Training Organisations in the Australian landscape -

{Tools for Assessment Validation regarding Registered Training Organisations in the Australian landscape -

Blog Article

Assessment Validation Overview

Training Organisations handle multiple obligations post-registration, which include yearly reports, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While we've discussed validation in multiple posts, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) describes assessment validation as a quality review of the assessment process.

Essentially, validation of assessments is intended 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, meet the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The rules require two types of validation. The primary type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The other type ensures that assessments adhere to the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will concentrate on the first type—validation of assessment tools.

Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the primary part of the clause, ensuring compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Pertains to the execution, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

When to Validate Assessment Tools

The goal of validating assessment tools is to verify that all components, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you obtain new educational resources, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Check new tools immediately to ensure they are appropriate for students.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to conduct this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:

- Upgrade your resources
- Incorporate new training products on scope
- Evaluate your course with training product updates
- Identify potential risks in your learning resources 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?

Note that this validation guarantees adherence of all educational resources before student use. All RTOs must validate training products for each unit.

Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation

To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your training materials:

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment tasks meet course unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also check if guidelines for assessors 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 lists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates developed separately from the student workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment task and address unit requirements.

Panel for Validation

Standard 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 require all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.

Collectively, your validation panel must have:

- Workplace Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.

Principles Guiding Assessment

- Fairness: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Flexibility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Consistency: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Evidence Rules

- Validity: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Completeness: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Genuineness: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Currency: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?

Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the verbs in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:

- Change diapers
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- 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 evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be carrying out 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 requires the students to complete the tasks at least more info 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 lists. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each assessment item must meet all specifications, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.

Be Specific!

Each evaluation 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 mislead students or trainers.

Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them

Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for assessors to accurately assess student competence.

Audit Guarantees

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these promises, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify 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 evaluation tools are reliable with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.