{Validation of Assessment for Education Providers within the Australian landscape —

{Validation of Assessment for Education Providers within the Australian landscape —

Blog Article

Intro to Validating Assessments for RTOs

Registered Training Organisations have numerous duties post-registration, such as annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation is particularly challenging. While validation has been covered in several articles, a review of the basics is necessary. ASQA describes validation of assessments as granular review of the evaluation process.

At its core, validation of assessments is aimed at 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 rules specify two forms of validation. The first type of assessment validation guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The subsequent validation verifies that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will focus on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.

Overview of Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the primary part of the clause, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the conduct, making sure RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

When to Validate Assessment Tools

The aim of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all components, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you get new training materials, you must perform validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Validate new resources immediately to ensure they are fit for student use.

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

- Update your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Evaluate your course with training product updates
- Flag 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

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

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

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

- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation 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 directions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, registers, and templates developed separately from the workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment activity and comply with unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for members of the validation panel. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually ask all trainers 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 training and assessment credentials:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.

Principles of Assessment

- Equity: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Consistency: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?

Guidelines for Evidence

- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Relevance: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?

Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the action words in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one required performance evidence asks students to:

- Change diapers
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills

Frequent Errors

Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be carrying out the tasks.

Mind the Plurals!

Pay read more attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers requires 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 enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each assessment item must cover all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the assessment method is non-compliant.

Be Specific!

Each assessment 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 instructions do not confuse students or trainers.

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, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these assurances, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.

By following these recommendations and understanding the principles of assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment methods are compliant with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.