{Assessment Validation for Education Providers across the Australian landscape A Step-by-Step Guide

{Assessment Validation for Education Providers across the Australian landscape A Step-by-Step Guide

Blog Article

Overview of Assessment Validation

Training Organisations manage many duties upon registration, including yearly reports, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been reviewed in several posts, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority defines assessment validation as granular review of the assessment procedure.

Principally, assessment review is aimed at identifying which parts of an RTO’s assessment methods 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 specify two types of validation. The first type of assessment review guarantees adherence to the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The other type verifies 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: Commonly called pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the initial part of the regulation, focusing on meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the conduct, guaranteeing that RTO assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools

Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation

The aim of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all components, criteria for performance, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new training materials, you must carry out validation of assessment tools before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Check new materials as soon as possible to ensure they are fit for student use.

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

- Improve your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Note 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.

Which Training Products Should You Validate?

Note that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before being used. All RTOs must validate training products for each course unit.

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:

- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Student 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.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment task are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Other Related Resources: These may include lists, evaluation registers, and templates developed separately from the learner workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they match the evaluation task and meet unit requirements.

Panel for Validation

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 mandate all trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.

Collectively, your validation panel must have:

- Vocational Competencies and Current Professional 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:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.

Assessment Principles

- Impartiality: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Versatility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- find it here Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Evidence Rules

- Relevance: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Sufficiency: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Currency: 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 assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one required performance evidence asks students to:

- Change nappies
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills

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 doing the tasks.

Be Careful with 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 one baby does not fulfill the requirement.

All or Nothing Competence

Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must meet all specifications, or the student is not competent, and the assessment method is out of compliance.

Can You Be More Specific?

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

Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them

Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for trainers 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 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 tools are valid with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.