{Assessment Validation Process for Vocational Training Establishments within the Australian landscape —

Introduction

Registered Training Organisations have many tasks following registration, like annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While validation has been covered in multiple discussions, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies validation of assessments as granular review of the evaluation process.

Principally, validation of assessments is designed to identify which parts of an RTO's assessment 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 SRTOs 2015, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, adhere to the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The standards require two forms of validation. The initial type of assessment review checks conformity with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The subsequent validation guarantees that assessments follow the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will concentrate on the primary type—assessment tool validation.

Overview of Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Sometimes called pre-assessment validation or verification, concerns the primary part of the rule, focusing on compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Relates to the implementation, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Guide to Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation

The aim of validating assessment tools is to verify that all aspects, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you purchase new educational resources, you must perform validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Check new materials as soon as possible to verify they are suitable for student use.

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

- Amend your resources
- Expand with new training products on scope
- Examine your course with 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 to Validate

Note that this validation ensures conformity of all learning resources before use. All RTOs must validate training products for each subject unit.

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet course unit requirements, aiding in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and response areas are find it here sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also verify if guidelines for evaluators are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and evaluation templates created separately from the workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and meet unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

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

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

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

Assessment Principles

- Equity: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Flexibility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Reliability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?

Evidence Rules

- Appropriateness: 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?
- Genuineness: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Currency: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?

Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation

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

- Change diapers
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies

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 theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be carrying out 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.

Full Competence or Not Competent

Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each evaluation task must meet all criteria, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment method is not compliant.

Can You Be More Specific?

Each evaluation task must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your guidelines do not baffle students or assessors.

Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions

Not using double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for trainers to accurately evaluate student competence.

Assurance During Audits

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these promises, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.

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