{Process of Assessment Validation for Vocational Schools across the Australian landscape —

{Process of Assessment Validation for Vocational Schools across the Australian landscape —

Blog Article

Intro to Validating Assessments for RTOs

Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) manage various responsibilities post-registration, such as annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been covered in many posts, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment review as a quality review of the evaluation process.

In essence, validation of assessments is about 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 SRTOs 2015 regulations, 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 first type of validation of assessments ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type verifies that assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that validation is performed in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will focus on the initial type—assessment tool validation.

The Two Types of Assessment Validation

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

How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

Optimal Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The goal of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all aspects, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you obtain new training materials, you must carry out validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Check new resources as soon as possible to ensure they are fit for student use.

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

- Revise your resources
- Incorporate new training products on scope
- Evaluate your course with training product updates
- Spot 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.

Training Products Requiring Validation

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

Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation

To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It shows 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 instructions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment task are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Other Related Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, registers, and forms created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the evaluation task and address course unit requirements.

Panel for Validation

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

Collectively, your validation panel must have:

- Vocational Competencies and Current Professional Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Updated 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.

Principles Guiding Assessment

- Equity: 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: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Reliability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Evidence Rules

- Relevance: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Adequacy: 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?
- Relevance: 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 task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one required performance evidence 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 specification is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be doing the tasks.

Be Careful with Plurals!

Pay attention to the frequency. 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 is not sufficient.

Full Competence or Not Competent

Pay attention to itemized requirements. As find it here mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each assessment item must address all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is out of compliance.

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 directions do not baffle students or evaluators.

Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions

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

Ensuring Audit Compliance

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

By following these instructions and understanding the Principles of Assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are reliable with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.