{Assessment Validation Tools pertaining to Vocational Education Institutes within the Australian landscape -

Overview of Assessment Validation

Registered Training Organisations are responsible for various tasks post-registration, including annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments is particularly challenging. While we've discussed validation in multiple publications, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment review as a quality review of the evaluation process.

In essence, assessment review is about identifying 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, comply with the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The rules require two types of validation. The first type of assessment validation checks conformity with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The subsequent validation verifies that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This suggests that validation is carried out pre- and post-assessment. This article will focus on the first type—assessment tool validation.

Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Commonly called pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the initial part of the clause, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the implementation, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Guide to Conducting Assessment Tool Validation

Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The aim of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all elements, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new educational resources, you must perform assessment tool validation before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Review new materials immediately to verify they are appropriate for students.

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

- Improve your resources
- Include new training products on scope
- Examine your course with training product updates
- Identify 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 Needing Validation

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

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

To start assessment tool validation, 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, awesome site helping with faster validation.
- Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if guidelines for assessors are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment task are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Additional Resources: These may include lists, logs, and forms developed separately from the learner workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they match the assessment activity and address course unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

Standard 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 educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including field experts.

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

- Workplace Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the unit being validated.
- Current 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 of Assessment

- Equity: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Validity: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Reliability: 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?
- Sufficiency: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Timeliness: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?

Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the action words in the unit requirements and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers, one performance evidence requirement asks students to:

- Perform diaper changes
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Observe and promote suitable physical activities and motor skills for babies

Frequent Errors

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 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 Baby and Toddler Care 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 Not Competent

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 address all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.

Provide Specific Details

Each assessment item 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 mislead students or assessors.

Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them

Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for assessors 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 assurances, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This influences your compliance status, so it's better to take a safe and compliant approach.

By following these recommendations and understanding the assessment principles and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your assessment tools are reliable with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.