{Guide to Assessment Validation pertaining to Vocational Centres throughout the Australian landscape —

{Guide to Assessment Validation pertaining to Vocational Centres throughout the Australian landscape —

Blog Article

Introduction

Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) have many tasks post-registration, which include annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, 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 describes assessment validation as a quality review of the assessment procedure.

Primarily, assessment review is about 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 SRTOs 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 rules specify 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 subsequent validation verifies that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This implies that we perform validation in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will focus on the primary type—validation of assessment tools.

Differentiating Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, concerns the first part of the clause, ensuring ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is related to the conduct, making sure RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

When to Validate Assessment Tools

The aim of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all elements, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire 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 materials immediately to confirm they are appropriate for students.

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

- Enhance your resources
- Include new training products on scope
- Audit 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 subject unit.

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

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

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It indicates which evaluation items meet unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also verify if directions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear standards for each evaluation item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates designed separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment task and comply with subject requirements.

Validation Panel

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

Collectively, your panel must have:

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

Assessment Principles

- Impartiality: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Adaptability: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Consistency: 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 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 evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Relevance: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?

Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the verbs in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:

- Perform diaper changes
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills

Typical Mistakes

Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be carrying out the tasks.

Watch Out for the Plurals!

Pay attention to the numbers. 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.

Full Competence or Not Competent

Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each evaluation task must address all requirements, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.

Can You Be More Specific?

Each assessment item must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the assessor’s judgment on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not confuse students or trainers.

Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions

Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for assessors to accurately evaluate student competence.

Ensuring Audit Compliance

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 help rectify noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.

By following these instructions and understanding the principles of assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are reliable with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.