Overview

Registered Training Organisations manage numerous responsibilities after becoming registered, including annual declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments frequently stands out. While validation has been covered in multiple posts, let's return to the basics. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment validation as granular review of the assessment procedure.

Fundamentally, assessment validation is aimed at 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, 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 standards mandate two types of validation. The first type of validation of assessments ensures compliance with the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The other type ensures that assessments are conducted according to the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that validation is performed in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will focus on the first type—assessment tool validation.

Differentiating Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Sometimes called pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the primary part of the rule, ensuring compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the execution, making sure RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Guide to Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

When to Validate Assessment Tools

The aim of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all components, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you get new learning resources, you must carry out validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Review new resources as soon as possible to verify they are fit for student use.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to perform this type of validation. Conduct assessment tool validation also when you:

- Improve your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Compare your course with training product updates
- Spot 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.

Which Training Products Should You Validate?

Remember that this validation ensures compliance of all training materials before use. All RTOs must validate materials for each unit.

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:

- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet 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 ensure if directions for trainers are sufficient and if clear criteria for each evaluation item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, 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 unit requirements.

Validation Panel

Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for panel members. It states assessment validation can be performed by one or more people. However, RTOs usually require all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including industry 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 Training.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.

Principles Guiding Assessment

- Fairness: 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: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Guidelines for Evidence

- Validity: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all 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 tasks in the unit specifications 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
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- 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

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 evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be performing 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 get more info 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 perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each evaluation task must meet all specifications, or the student is not competent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.

Provide Specific Details

Each assessment task must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your instructions do not confuse students or evaluators.

Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them

Avoiding 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, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these guarantees, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.

By following these guidelines and understanding the Principles of Assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment methods are compliant with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.