{Assessment Validation for the VET Organizations across the Australian context :

Introduction

Registered Training Organisations are responsible for various responsibilities after becoming registered, which include yearly declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments often stands out. While validation has been covered in many discussions, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) describes assessment validation as quality assurance of the assessment procedure.

Fundamentally, validation of assessments 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 SRTOs 2015 regulations, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, comply with the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The standards mandate two forms of validation. The first type of assessment review checks conformity with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that validation is performed both before and after the assessment. This article will concentrate on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.

Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the initial part of the clause, ensuring compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the execution, ensuring Registered Training Organisations conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Process of Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

Best Time for Conducting Assessment

The purpose of assessment tool validation is to make sure that all aspects, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new training materials, you must conduct assessment tool validation prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Review new materials right away to verify they are suitable for student use.

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

- Revise your resources
- Expand with new training products on scope
- Evaluate your course with training product updates
- Identify potential risks in your learning resources 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.

What Training Products Require Validation

Bear in mind that this validation guarantees adherence of all learning resources before student 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 training materials:

- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment tasks meet subject requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for trainers are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment task are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Additional Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, registers, and forms developed separately from the workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment task and address course unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

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

Collectively, your panel must have:

- Workplace Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor.

Principles Guiding Assessment

- Equity: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Adaptability: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Consistency: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?

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?
- Adequacy: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Originality: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Relevance: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?

Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the action words in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one performance criteria asks students to:

- Change diapers
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to check it out babies
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills

Common Pitfalls

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 theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing the tasks.

Watch Out for the Plurals!

Pay attention to the numbers. 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.

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 task must meet all specifications, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment tool is not compliant.

Be 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 directions do not baffle students or trainers.

Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions

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

Assurance During Audits

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 proactive and compliant approach.

By following these instructions and understanding the assessment principles and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are valid with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.