{Guide to Assessment Validation concerning VET Organizations across the Australian context —
{Guide to Assessment Validation concerning VET Organizations across the Australian context —
Blog Article
Intro to Validating Assessments for RTOs
Registered Training Organisations are responsible for many tasks after becoming registered, such as annual declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While we've discussed validation in several publications, a review of the basics is necessary. ASQA describes assessment review as granular review of the assessment procedure.
Primarily, assessment validation is concerned with 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 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 rules mandate two forms of validation. The primary type of assessment validation ensures compliance with the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The other type ensures that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This implies that we perform validation both before and after the assessment. This article will focus on the first type—assessment tool validation.
What are the Two Types of Assessment Validation?
- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the first part of the clause, aimed at compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is related to the implementation, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The purpose of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all components, performance standards, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new learning resources, you must carry out assessment tool validation before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Validate new materials right away to confirm they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to conduct this type of validation. Do validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Enhance your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Recognise 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.
What Training Products Need Validation?
Remember that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before use. All RTOs must validate training products for each subject unit.
Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:
- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet subject requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also ensure if directions for assessors are sufficient and click here if clear criteria for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and evaluation templates created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they match the evaluation task and address course unit requirements.
Panel for Validation
Standard 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 require all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including field experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Equity: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Versatility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Relevance: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Sufficiency: 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?
Important Factors in Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one performance criteria asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed 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
Frequent Errors
Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be carrying out the tasks.
Watch Out for the Plurals!
Pay attention to the frequency. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers 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 does not fulfill the requirement.
All or Nothing Competence
Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must meet all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not confuse students or trainers.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately judge student competence.
Audit Guarantees
Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer 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 recommendations and understanding the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are valid with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.