{Assessment Validation Guide pertaining to Vocational Education and Training throughout Australia's training sector —
{Assessment Validation Guide pertaining to Vocational Education and Training throughout Australia's training sector —
Blog Article
Assessment Validation Overview
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) are responsible for many responsibilities upon registration, such as annual declarations, AVETMISS data submission, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is particularly challenging. While validation has been reviewed in several discussions, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) describes validation of assessments as quality assurance of the assessment process.
Basically, assessment review is aimed at identifying which parts of an RTO’s evaluation process 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 regulations, 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 standards mandate two forms of validation. The primary type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates 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: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the primary part of the rule, focusing on meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Pertains to the conduct, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Guide to Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The goal of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all components, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you acquire new training materials, you must perform assessment tool validation before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Validate new tools as soon as possible to verify they are appropriate for students.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to do this type of validation. Conduct validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Enhance your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Check your course against training product updates
- Recognise 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.
What Training Products Need Validation?
Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before student use. All RTOs must validate materials for each unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment tasks meet unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/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 verify if guidelines for evaluators are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment task are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, evaluation registers, and forms created separately from the learner workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment task and address course unit requirements.
Assessment Validation Panel
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 ask all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Assessment Principles
- Fairness: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Adaptability: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Consistency: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Guidelines for Evidence
- Relevance: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Timeliness: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Important Factors in 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 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 to baby signs and cues properly
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Common Pitfalls
Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing the tasks.
Watch Out for the Plurals!
Pay attention to the frequency. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 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 won’t cut it.
All or Not Competent
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each assessment task must address all criteria, or the student is not competent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each assessment item 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 mislead students or assessors.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it simpler 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 affects your check it out compliance history, 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 compliant with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.