Assessment Validation Overview

Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) manage multiple responsibilities post-registration, including annual declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, assessment validation frequently stands out. While validation has been covered in many discussions, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) defines assessment review as a quality review of the evaluation process.

In essence, assessment review is dedicated to identifying which parts of an RTO’s evaluation 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 2015 Standards for RTOs, 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 rules mandate two forms of validation. The primary type of validation of assessments ensures compliance 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 implies that we perform validation in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will discuss the primary type—validation of assessment tools.

Two Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the first part of the regulation, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the conduct, confirming that RTO assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Methods for Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

When to Validate Assessment Tools

The aim of assessment tool validation is to make sure that all elements, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are covered by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you acquire new educational resources, you must conduct assessment tool validation before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new materials as soon as possible to ensure they are appropriate for students.

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

- Update your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Examine 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.

Selecting Training Products for Validation

Bear in mind that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before use. All RTOs must validate resources for each course unit.

Necessary Resources 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 shows which evaluation items meet unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also ensure if instructions for trainers are sufficient and if clear benchmarks for each assessment item are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Additional Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and templates designed separately from the workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment task and address unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

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

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

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

Assessment Principles

- Equity: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Consistency: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Guidelines for Evidence

- Validity: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Authenticity: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Timeliness: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?

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
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to 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 requirement is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be performing the tasks.

Watch Out for the Plurals!

Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care requires 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 non-compliant. Each evaluation task must cover all specifications, or the student is not yet competent, and the evaluation tool is out of compliance.

Can You Be More Specific?

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

Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions

Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately judge student competence.

Ensuring Audit Compliance

Considering these requirements, you find it here might wonder, “Don’t learning resource developers offer audit guarantees?” However, with these guarantees, you must wait until an audit to address noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.

By following these guidelines 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.