{Process of Assessment Validation concerning Vocational Education Centres throughout Australia's training sector —

{Process of Assessment Validation concerning Vocational Education Centres throughout Australia's training sector —

Blog Article

Intro to RTO Assessment Validation

RTOs manage various tasks post-registration, such as annual statements, AVETMISS data submission, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments frequently stands out. While validation has been reviewed in multiple publications, a review of the basics is necessary. ASQA defines validation of assessments as granular review of the assessment process.

At its core, assessment validation is about 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, meet the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The standards require two forms of validation. The first type of assessment validation checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The second validation verifies that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This implies that validation is carried out both before and after the assessment. This article will focus on the primary type—assessment tool validation.

Overview of Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the primary part of the clause, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the implementation, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The purpose of validating assessment tools is to verify that all elements, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you get new learning resources, you must perform validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Check new tools immediately to ensure they are suitable for student use.

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

- Amend your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Review your course against training product updates
- Detect 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 conformity of all training materials before use. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.

Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation

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

- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment task are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates developed separately from the learner workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment task and comply with subject requirements.

Validation Panel

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

Collectively, your panel must have:

- Vocational Skills and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.

Principles of Assessment

- Equity: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Versatility: 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?
- 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?
- Originality: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Currency: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?

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 evidence requirement asks students to:

- Change nappies
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies

Common Pitfalls

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 evidence), students should be doing the tasks.

Be Careful with 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 is not sufficient.

All or Not Competent

Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each evaluation task must address all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.

Be Specific!

Each evaluation task must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not baffle students or evaluators.

Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions

Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for trainers to accurately judge student competence.

Audit Guarantees

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 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 here and the SRTOs 2015.