Intro to Assessment Validation
Training Organisations manage multiple obligations upon registration, like annual declarations, AVETMISS data submission, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments is particularly challenging. While validation has been covered in many posts, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes validation of assessments as a quality review of the assessment procedure.
Primarily, assessment validation is intended to identify which parts of an RTO’s assessment methods 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, meet the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The regulations mandate two forms of validation. The initial type of assessment validation checks conformity with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that validation is carried out pre- and post-assessment. This article will discuss the primary type—assessment tool validation.
What are the Two Types of Assessment Validation?
- Assessment Tool Validation: Commonly called pre-assessment validation or verification, is related to the first part of the regulation, ensuring ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the conduct, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The goal of assessment tool validation is to verify that all components, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new educational resources, you must conduct assessment tool validation before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Review new materials 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:
- Improve your resources
- Incorporate new training products on scope
- Examine 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 Needing Validation
Keep in mind that this validation guarantees adherence of all educational resources before being used. All RTOs must validate materials for each unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:
- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It shows which assessment items meet unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if guidelines for assessors are sufficient and if clear standards for each evaluation item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and evaluation templates created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the evaluation task and comply with unit requirements.
Assessment Validation Panel
Regulation 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 evaluators to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Fairness: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Versatility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Evidence Rules
- Relevance: 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 the evidence sufficient to cover all 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?
Key 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 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:
- Change diapers
- 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
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development
Typical Mistakes
Asking students to describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old does not meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit requirement is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care 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 won’t cut it.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment item must address all criteria, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment method is non-compliant.
Be Specific!
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the Assessment validation training assessor’s judgment 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 easier for students to respond and for trainers to accurately assess student competence.
Assurance During Audits
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 assist with noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.
By following these instructions and understanding the Principles of Assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment tools are reliable with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.