Overview

RTOs manage multiple responsibilities after becoming registered, such as yearly declarations, AVETMISS compliance, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, validating assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been reviewed in many posts, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) identifies validation of assessments as granular review of the assessment process.

At its core, validation of assessments is designed 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, adhere to the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The standards require two forms of validation. The initial type of assessment review ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The second validation ensures that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This implies that validation is carried out pre- and post-assessment. This article will focus on the first type—assessment tool validation.

Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, concerns the first part of the rule, aimed at compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Pertains to the implementation, ensuring Registered Training Organisations conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

When to Validate Assessment Tools

The goal of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all aspects, criteria for performance, and performance and knowledge evidence are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new learning resources, you must conduct validation of assessment tools before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Review new resources immediately to ensure they are fit for student use.

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

- Upgrade your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Compare your course with training product updates
- Flag your learning resources as a risk 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.

Training Products Needing Validation

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

Resources Needed to Start Assessment Tool Validation

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

- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It shows which evaluation items meet unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment resource during validation. Check if instructions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also ensure if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Additional Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, evaluation registers, and templates created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment task and address course unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

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

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

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

Principles Guiding Assessment

- Equity: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Versatility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Validity: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Reliability: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Guidelines for here Evidence

- Appropriateness: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Completeness: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: 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 criteria and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. 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
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development

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 criteria is meant to assess theoretical understanding (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be carrying out the tasks.

Watch Out for the Plurals!

Pay attention to the frequency. 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 Not Competent

Pay attention to lists. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each evaluation task must cover all criteria, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment tool is non-compliant.

Can You Be More Specific?

Each evaluation task must have clear and specific reference answers to guide the evaluator’s decision 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 easier for students to respond and for assessors to accurately judge 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 proactive 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.