Overview

Registered Training Organisations handle various duties upon registration, including yearly declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation frequently stands out. While validation has been reviewed in multiple articles, let's return to the basics. ASQA identifies validation of assessments as quality assurance of the assessment process.

At its core, assessment validation is concerned with 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 SRTOs 2015, 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 specify two types of validation. The initial type of assessment validation ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The subsequent validation guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that we perform validation in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will discuss the first type—assessment tool validation.

Differentiating Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the first part of the regulation, ensuring ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the conduct, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

When Should Assessment Tool Validation Be Conducted?

The aim of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all elements, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you get new educational resources, you must carry out assessment tool validation before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Validate new resources as soon as possible to verify they are fit for student use.

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

- Improve your resources
- Expand with 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.

Training Products Needing Validation

Keep in mind that this validation ensures conformity of all learning resources before being used. All RTOs must validate training products for each course unit.

Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation

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

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which evaluation items meet course unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment task are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, registers, and templates created separately from the student workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and comply with subject requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

Regulation 1.11 specifies the requirements for validation 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 validation panel must have:

- Vocational Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Training.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.

Principles of Assessment

- Fairness: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Adaptability: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Relevance: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Consistency: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?

Guidelines for Evidence

- Relevance: 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 assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Timeliness: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?

Key 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 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:

- Change nappies
- 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
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies

Typical Mistakes

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

Be Careful with Plurals!

Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care 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 Nothing Competence

Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must meet all criteria, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment tool is not compliant.

Can You Be More Specific?

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

Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions

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

Ensuring Audit Compliance

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 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 these guys assessment methods are compliant with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.