Intro to RTO Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations have numerous duties after becoming registered, like yearly reports, AVETMISS compliance, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation often stands out. While validation has been reviewed in several articles, a review of the basics is necessary. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) identifies assessment review as quality assurance of the assessment process.
Primarily, assessment validation is focused on 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, adhere to the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The regulations mandate two types of validation. The initial type of assessment validation checks conformity with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments adhere to the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will discuss the primary type—assessment tool validation.
The Two Types of Assessment Validation
- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the first part of the clause, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Pertains to the execution, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Guide to Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
When Should Assessment Tool Validation Be Conducted?
The aim of assessment tool validation is to verify that all components, performance standards, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you get 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 five-year validation cycle. Validate new tools right away to confirm they are fit for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to conduct this type of validation. Perform assessment tool validation also when you:
- Upgrade your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Review your course against 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.
Selecting Training Products for Validation
Note that this validation guarantees adherence of all educational resources before use. All RTOs must validate training products for each unit.
Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It indicates which evaluation items meet course unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for assessors are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each evaluation item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and forms created separately from the workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and meet subject requirements.
Panel for Validation
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 evaluators to participate, sometimes including field experts.
Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Current Expertise in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.
Principles of Assessment
- Fairness: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- Flexibility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?
Rules of Evidence
- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Currency: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?
Key Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the find it here action words in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one required performance evidence asks students to:
- Change nappies
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills
Common Pitfalls
Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit requirement is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be carrying out the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers 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 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 not yet competent, and the assessment tool is not compliant.
Be Specific!
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not mislead students or evaluators.
Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for trainers to accurately assess student competence.
Assurance During Audits
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 safe and compliant approach.
By following these recommendations and understanding the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are valid with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.