{Assessment Validation for Training Organizations within the Australian context —

{Assessment Validation for Training Organizations within the Australian context —

Blog Article

Overview of Assessment Validation

Training Organisations are responsible for various responsibilities post-registration, including annual statements, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been reviewed in several articles, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) describes assessment review as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.

Basically, assessment validation is dedicated to 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, 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 rules mandate two forms of validation. The first type of validation of assessments ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type ensures that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This suggests that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will focus on the primary type—assessment tool validation.

Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the first part of the regulation, focusing on meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is related to the execution, guaranteeing that RTO assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Guide to Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The aim of assessment tool validation is to verify that all components, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you get new educational resources, you must conduct assessment tool validation before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Validate new materials immediately to confirm they are suitable for student use.

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

- Revise your resources
- Integrate new training products on scope
- Compare 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.

Training Products Requiring Validation

Remember that this validation guarantees adherence of all training materials before being used. All RTOs must validate materials for each course unit.

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet course unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation 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 guidelines for evaluators are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include lists, logs, and templates designed separately from the learner workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment task and meet course unit requirements.

Validation Panel

Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for panel members. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually ask all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.

Collectively, your validation panel must have:

- Vocational Skills and Current Industry Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.

Principles of Assessment

- Fairness: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Adaptability: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Dependability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Rules of Evidence

- Relevance: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Relevance: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?

Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the tasks in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one performance criteria asks students to:

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

Common Pitfalls

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

Watch Out for the Plurals!

Pay 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.

Full Competence or Not Competent

Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must meet all requirements, or the student is not yet competent, and the evaluation tool is non-compliant.

Can You Be More Specific?

Each evaluation 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 guidelines do not baffle students or assessors.

Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions

Not find it here using double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for assessors to accurately assess student competence.

Ensuring Audit Compliance

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these guarantees, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.

By following these instructions and understanding the assessment principles and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment methods are reliable with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.