Intro to Validating Assessments for RTOs
RTOs are responsible for various responsibilities after becoming registered, including annual statements, AVETMISS data submission, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, assessment validation often stands out. While validation has been covered in several discussions, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment validation as granular review of the evaluation process.
Primarily, assessment review is designed 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 SRTOs 2015, 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 rules specify two types of validation. The first type of assessment review 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 indicates that validation is carried out both before and after the assessment. This article will discuss the first type—validation of assessment tools.
Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the primary part of the clause, focusing on meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the conduct, ensuring Registered Training Organisations conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The goal of assessment tool validation is to make sure 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 before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Check new tools right away to ensure 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
- Include new training products on scope
- Check your course against training product updates
- Detect 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 to Validate
Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all training materials before use. All RTOs must validate resources for each unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:
- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It identifies which evaluation items meet course unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if directions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each evaluation item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include checklists, registers, and evaluation templates designed separately from the student workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the evaluation task and address unit requirements.
Validation Panel
Regulation 1.11 specifies the requirements for panel members. It states validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually mandate all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.
Collectively, your validation panel must have:
- Workplace Competencies and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Impartiality: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Flexibility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Dependability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Rules of Evidence
- Appropriateness: 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 there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Genuineness: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Relevance: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the verbs in the unit specifications 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
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development
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 assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be performing the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 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 won’t cut it.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must meet all requirements, 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 benchmark answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not confuse students or assessors.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for trainers to accurately judge 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 affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation read more tools are reliable with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.