Intro to Validating Assessments for RTOs

Registered Training Organisations manage various obligations post-registration, such as annual statements, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments frequently stands out. While validation has been reviewed in multiple publications, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) describes assessment validation as quality assurance of the evaluation process.

Primarily, 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 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 standards mandate two types 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 ensures that assessments are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence. This indicates that validation is carried out both before and after the assessment. This article will concentrate on the first type—assessment tool validation.

The Two Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the first part of the regulation, focusing on meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is related to the conduct, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

Best Time for Conducting Assessment

The purpose of assessment tool validation is to ensure that all elements, performance standards, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you purchase new training materials, you must carry out validation of assessment tools prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next 5-year cycle validation schedule. Check new tools right away to confirm they are appropriate for students.

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

- Upgrade your resources
- Add new qualifications to scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Spot 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.

Selecting Training Products for Validation

Note that this validation ensures compliance of all educational resources before student 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 training materials:

- Mapping Tool: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if guidelines are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for trainers are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment task are provided. Clear benchmarks are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Other Related Resources: These may include lists, evaluation registers, and forms designed separately from the workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment task and comply with subject requirements.

Validation Panel

Regulation 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 industry experts.

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

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

Principles of Assessment

- Impartiality: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Adaptability: Is the assessment adaptable to different needs and preferences of candidates?
- Accuracy: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Reliability: these guys Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Rules of Evidence

- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Timeliness: Does the evidence reflect current skills and knowledge?

Key Considerations for Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the verbs 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:

- Perform diaper changes
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Prepare babies for sleep and help them settle
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development

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 evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge evidence), students should be doing the tasks.

Be Careful with Plurals!

Pay attention to the numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 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 out of compliance. Each assessment item must address all requirements, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment tool is out of compliance.

Can You Be More Specific?

Each assessment task 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 confuse students or trainers.

Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions

Avoiding double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately assess student competence.

Assurance During Audits

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these assurances, you must wait for an audit before they help rectify noncompliance. This impacts your compliance record, so it's better to take a proactive and compliant approach.

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