Assessment Validation Overview
Training Organisations are responsible for numerous duties post-registration, such as annual declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments often stands out. While validation has been reviewed in multiple publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority defines assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment process.
Primarily, assessment review 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 Standards for RTOs 2015, 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 standards specify two types of validation. The primary type of validation of assessments ensures compliance with the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The other type ensures that assessments adhere to the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence. This suggests that we perform validation both before and after the assessment. This article will concentrate on the first type—validation of assessment tools.
Two Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Sometimes called pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the first part of the regulation, ensuring compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Involves the conduct, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
Timing for Assessment Tool Validation
The aim of assessment tool validation is to verify that all aspects, performance standards, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you obtain new training materials, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Validate new tools as soon as possible to ensure they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to do this type of validation. Do validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Amend your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Compare 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.
Which Training Products Should You Validate?
Note that this validation ensures conformity of all training materials before student use. All RTOs must validate training products for each subject unit.
Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation
To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Resource: 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 answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also ensure if instructions for trainers are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each evaluation item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and evaluation templates created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and comply with course unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for validation panel members. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually require all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including field experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Current Professional Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Impartiality: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Versatility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Dependability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Evidence Rules
- Validity: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and find it here attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Completeness: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Timeliness: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Change diapers
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- 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 requirement is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be performing the tasks.
Be Careful with Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. 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.
All or Not Competent
Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must meet all criteria, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.
Be Specific!
Each assessment item must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your instructions do not mislead students or assessors.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for trainers to accurately evaluate student competence.
Assurance During Audits
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these promises, 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 reliable with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.