Assessment Validation Overview

Training Organisations handle many duties after becoming registered, including yearly declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been reviewed in multiple publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.

Principally, assessment validation is dedicated to identifying 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, 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 mandate 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 other type ensures 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 primary type—assessment tool validation.

Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the primary part of the rule, focusing on meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is concerned with the execution, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools

Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation

The purpose of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all aspects, performance standards, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new learning resources, you must conduct assessment tool validation prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Check new tools as soon as possible to ensure they are fit for student use.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to do this type of validation. Perform assessment tool validation also when you:

- Enhance your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Detect 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.

Selecting Training Products for Validation

Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all learning resources before student use. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.

Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation

To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It shows which evaluation items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner 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.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each evaluation item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and evaluation templates created separately from the workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment task and meet subject requirements.

Validation Panel

Standard 1.11 specifies the requirements for panel members. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually mandate all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.

Collectively, your validation panel must have:

- Vocational Skills 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 of Assessment

- Impartiality: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Adaptability: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Validity: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Dependability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

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

- Perform diaper changes
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- 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 criteria is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be performing the tasks.

Mind the Plurals!

Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers 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 does not fulfill the requirement.

Full Competence or Not Competent

Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must address all specifications, or the student is not yet competent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.

Provide Specific Details

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 mislead 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 judge 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 for check here an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.

By following these guidelines and understanding the assessment principles and evidence rules, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are reliable with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.