Intro to Validating Assessments for RTOs

Registered Training Organisations handle various responsibilities upon registration, like yearly declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments frequently stands out. While validation has been reviewed in many posts, a review of the basics is necessary. The Australian Skills Quality Authority defines assessment review as a quality review of the assessment procedure.

Essentially, assessment review is focused on identifying which parts of an RTO’s assessment procedures 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 Standards for RTOs 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 mandate two types of validation. The primary type of assessment review ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your RTO's scope. The other type 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 discuss the primary type—validation of assessment tools.

The Two Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the initial part of the clause, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Concerns the implementation, guaranteeing that RTO assessments adhere to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Conducting Validation of Assessment Tools

Optimal Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The goal of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all elements, performance criteria, and performance and knowledge evidence are covered by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you get new learning resources, you must carry out validation of assessment tools before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Validate new tools 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:

- Revise your resources
- Integrate new training products on scope
- Assess 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 guarantees adherence of all learning resources before use. All RTOs must validate materials for each unit.

Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation

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

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It shows which assessment tasks meet unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also ensure if guidelines for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and comply with unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

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

Collectively, your assessment this site validation panel must have:

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

Principles of 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?
- Validity: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Reliability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Evidence Rules

- Appropriateness: 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?
- Authenticity: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Timeliness: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?

Important Factors in Assessment Validation

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

- Change nappies
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills

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 criteria is meant to assess underpinning knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be performing the tasks.

Be Careful with 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 does not fulfill the requirement.

All or Not Competent

Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must meet all requirements, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment method is not compliant.

Be Specific!

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

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.

Audit Guarantees

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these promises, 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 guidelines and understanding the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are reliable with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.