Overview

Training Organisations have many duties post-registration, including yearly declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and advertising compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation frequently stands out. While validation has been reviewed in multiple publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) defines validation of assessments as a quality review of the evaluation process.

Basically, assessment validation is intended 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, meet the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The rules mandate two forms of validation. The first type of assessment validation checks conformity with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type ensures that assessments adhere to the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This indicates that validation is performed both before and after the assessment. This article will focus on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.

Understanding Assessment Validation Types

- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the primary part of the rule, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the implementation, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Process of Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

When to Validate Assessment Tools

The purpose of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all elements, criteria for performance, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you purchase new training materials, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Validate new materials immediately 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:

- Enhance your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Flag 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.

Identifying Training Products for Validation

Keep in mind that this validation ensures conformity of all learning resources before student 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 training materials:

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment tasks meet unit requirements, aiding 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: Also verify if guidelines for trainers are sufficient and if clear standards for each evaluation item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Other Related Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, logs, and forms developed separately from the student workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and address subject requirements.

Panel for Validation

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

Collectively, your panel must have:

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

Principles of Assessment

- Impartiality: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Versatility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Dependability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?

Evidence Rules

- Appropriateness: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Sufficiency: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Timeliness: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?

Key Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention here to the verbs in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment item. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one required performance evidence asks students to:

- Change diapers
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- 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 specification is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be doing the tasks.

Watch Out for the Plurals!

Pay attention to the frequency. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 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 is not sufficient.

All or Nothing Competence

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

Can You Be More Specific?

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

Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions

Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for trainers to accurately evaluate student competence.

Audit Guarantees

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these assurances, you must wait for an audit before they assist with noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.

By following these guidelines and understanding the principles of assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are compliant with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.