Assessment Validation Overview
Registered Training Organisations handle many obligations post-registration, including yearly reports, AVETMISS data submission, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While validation has been reviewed in several discussions, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA identifies assessment review as a quality review of the assessment process.
At its core, assessment validation is about 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 regulations, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, comply with the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The regulations mandate two types of validation. The initial type of assessment validation ensures compliance with the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The subsequent validation ensures that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This indicates that validation is carried out in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will focus on the primary type—validation of assessment tools.
Differentiating Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the initial part of the rule, aimed at meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Involves the implementation, ensuring Registered Training Organisations conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Guide to Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all elements, performance standards, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new training materials, you must perform assessment tool validation before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Validate new resources as soon as possible to confirm they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to perform this type of validation. Perform assessment tool validation also when you:
- Update your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Audit your course with 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.
What Training Products Require Validation
Bear in mind that this validation ensures conformity of all learning resources before being used. All RTOs must validate materials for each unit.
Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment items meet unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also ensure if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include checklists, registers, and templates created separately from the learner workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the evaluation task and address course 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 mandate all educators and assessors website to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Impartiality: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: 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?
- Consistency: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Evidence Rules
- Relevance: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- 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: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Change diapers
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Common Pitfalls
Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be carrying out the tasks.
Be Careful with Plurals!
Pay attention to the frequency. 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 does not fulfill the requirement.
All or Nothing Competence
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each evaluation task must cover all specifications, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment tool is not compliant.
Be Specific!
Each assessment task must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not confuse students or assessors.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for trainers to accurately assess student competence.
Assurance During Audits
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer 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 proactive and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are valid with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.