{Assessment Validation Guide pertaining to Training Organizations across the Australian context —

{Assessment Validation Guide pertaining to Training Organizations across the Australian context —

Blog Article

Intro to Assessment Validation

Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) handle various duties following registration, including annual statements, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments frequently stands out. While we've discussed validation in many publications, let's return to the basics. ASQA identifies validation of assessments as a quality review of the assessment procedure.

Essentially, assessment review is designed to identify 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 Standards for RTOs 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 rules require two types of validation. The initial type of assessment validation ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This indicates that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will concentrate on the initial type—assessment tool validation.

Overview of Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the initial part of the clause, focusing on meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Pertains to the conduct, ensuring Registered Training Organisations conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

When Should Assessment Tool Validation Be Conducted?

The goal of assessment tool validation is to make sure that all components, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you purchase new educational resources, you must perform validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Review new resources immediately to verify they are appropriate for students.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to conduct this type of validation. Conduct validation of assessment tools also when you:

- Enhance your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Check your course against 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.

Which Training Products Should You Validate?

Note that this validation guarantees adherence of all training materials before being used. 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 educational resources:

- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet course unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also ensure if instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, registers, and templates developed separately from the student workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment task and address subject requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

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 ask all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including sector experts.

Collectively, your validation panel must have:

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

Principles of Assessment

- Fairness: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Flexibility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Consistency: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Evidence Rules

- Appropriateness: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the these guys unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Adequacy: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: 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 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 criteria asks students to:

- Perform diaper changes
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies

Common Pitfalls

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 assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge evidence), 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 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 won’t cut it.

Full Competence or Not Competent

Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must cover all criteria, or the student is not competent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.

Can You Be More Specific?

Each assessment task must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not confuse students or evaluators.

Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions

Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for trainers to accurately judge student competence.

Audit Guarantees

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” 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 recommendations and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are valid with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.