{Assessment Validation Tools pertaining to Vocational Education Bodies throughout the context of Australia —

Overview

Training Organisations handle numerous responsibilities after becoming registered, like annual declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation frequently stands out. While we've discussed validation in several articles, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment process.

Fundamentally, assessment review is focused on identifying which parts of an RTO’s assessment procedures 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 regulations require two types of validation. The first type of assessment validation checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The other type ensures that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that validation is performed in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will discuss the primary type—assessment tool validation.

Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Sometimes called pre-assessment validation or verification, concerns the initial part of the clause, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the implementation, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Process of Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

When Should Assessment Tool Validation Be Conducted?

The purpose of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all components, criteria for performance, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new learning resources, you must perform validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new tools as soon as possible to confirm they are appropriate for students.

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

- Modify your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Compare your course with training product updates
- Note 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 student 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 indicates which assessment items meet unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if guidelines for assessors are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and evaluation templates developed separately from the workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment activity and comply with unit requirements.

Panel for Validation

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

Collectively, your validation panel must have:

- Vocational Competencies and Current 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 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.

Assessment Principles

- Equity: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Flexibility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Consistency: 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?
- Sufficiency: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: 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 assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one performance evidence requirement 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 and settle babies for sleep
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development

Typical Mistakes

Having students describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old doesn’t directly meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit requirement is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be performing the tasks.

Mind the Plurals!

Pay attention to the numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care 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 read more one baby won’t cut it.

Full Competence or Not Competent

Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment task must meet all specifications, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.

Can You Be More Specific?

Each assessment item 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 confuse students or assessors.

Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them

Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately judge student competence.

Audit Guarantees

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these promises, you must wait for an audit before they assist with noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.

By following these instructions 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.