{Guide to Assessment Validation regarding Vocational Education Centres in Australia -
Assessment Validation OverviewRegistered Training Organisations (RTOs) are responsible for many obligations following registration, including yearly reports, AVETMISS reporting, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation often stands out. While validation has been reviewed in multiple publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) defines assessment review as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.
Fundamentally, assessment review is designed 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 SRTOs 2015, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, adhere to the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The regulations specify two forms of validation. The first type of assessment validation ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This implies that we perform validation in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will concentrate on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.
Two Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, concerns the initial part of the clause, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the implementation, ensuring Registered Training Organisations conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The aim of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all aspects, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new learning resources, you must carry out validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Check new resources as soon as possible to ensure they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to do this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Revise your resources
- Integrate new training products on scope
- Compare your course with training product updates
- Note your learning resources as a risk 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 Requiring Validation
Bear in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before use. All RTOs must validate training products 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 shows which assessment tasks meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also verify if instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment task are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include lists, registers, and evaluation templates designed separately from the learner workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and meet unit requirements.
Validation Panel
Regulation 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 ask all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including field experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Fairness: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Adaptability: 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?
Rules of Evidence
- Relevance: 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?
- Authenticity: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Relevance: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies
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 requirement is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing the tasks.
Watch Out for the Plurals!
Pay attention to the frequency. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 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 won’t cut it.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must cover all requirements, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment method is not compliant.
Be Specific!
Each assessment item must have clear and specific reference RTO assessment validation process answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your instructions do not baffle students or assessors.
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.
Ensuring Audit Compliance
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these assurances, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the principles of assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are valid with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.