{Process of Assessment Validation pertaining to VET Organizations within the Australian landscape -

{Process of Assessment Validation pertaining to VET Organizations within the Australian landscape -

Blog Article

Intro to Validating Assessments for RTOs

RTOs handle many tasks post-registration, like yearly declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, assessment validation often stands out. While validation has been covered in many articles, let's return to the basics. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.

Principally, validation of assessments is intended to identify 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 types of validation. The initial type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The subsequent validation ensures that assessments follow the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This indicates that validation is performed pre- and post-assessment. This article will discuss the initial type—validation of assessment tools.

Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, involves the primary part of the clause, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the execution, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The purpose of assessment tool validation is to verify that all elements, performance standards, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new educational resources, you must carry out assessment tool validation before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Check new tools as soon as possible to confirm they are fit for student use.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to do this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:

- Upgrade your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Examine your course with 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.

What Training Products Need Validation?

Bear in mind that this validation ensures conformity of all training materials before use. All RTOs must validate training products for each course unit.

Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation

To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your training materials:

- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It shows which assessment items meet course unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if guidelines for website assessors are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment task are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates designed separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and meet unit requirements.

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 require all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

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

Principles of Assessment

- Fairness: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Versatility: 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?
- Consistency: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?

Evidence Rules

- Validity: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: 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?

Important Factors in Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the tasks in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one performance criteria asks students to:

- Perform diaper changes
- Prepare and feed bottles, clean feeding 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

Typical Mistakes

Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be performing the tasks.

Be Careful with Plurals!

Pay attention to the frequency. 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 does not fulfill the requirement.

All or Not Competent

Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each assessment task must cover all requirements, or the student is incompetent, and the evaluation tool is non-compliant.

Provide Specific Details

Each assessment 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 guidelines do not baffle students or evaluators.

Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them

Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for assessors to accurately judge student competence.

Ensuring Audit Compliance

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these assurances, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.

By following these recommendations and understanding the assessment principles and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment methods are reliable with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.