Overview of Assessment Validation

RTOs are responsible for multiple obligations upon registration, like annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments is particularly challenging. While validation has been reviewed in multiple posts, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment process.

In essence, assessment review 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, comply with the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The standards specify two forms of validation. The first type of assessment validation checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The other type 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 focus on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.

Differentiating Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, concerns the first part of the regulation, ensuring ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the conduct, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Process of Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

Optimal Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The purpose of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all elements, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you purchase new training materials, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new materials immediately to verify they are suitable for student use.

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

- Modify your resources
- Include new training products on scope
- Evaluate your course with training product updates
- Spot 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.

Identifying Training Products for Validation

Keep in mind that this validation ensures conformity of all learning resources before student use. All RTOs must validate resources 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 Tool: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment tasks meet subject requirements, helping with 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 instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, registers, and templates developed separately from the learner workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment task and comply with subject requirements.

Panel for Validation

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

Collectively, your validation panel must have:

- Workplace Competencies and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.

Principles Guiding Assessment

- Fairness: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Flexibility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: 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: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Adequacy: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Relevance: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?

Key Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the verbs in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:

- Change nappies
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development

Frequent Errors

Asking students to describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old does not meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be carrying out the tasks.

Mind the 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 is not sufficient.

Full Competence or Not Competent

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

Can You Be More Specific?

Each assessment 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 assessors.

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.

Assurance During Audits

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 assist with this site noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.

By following these guidelines and understanding the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are valid with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.