Intro to RTO Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) have many obligations upon registration, such as yearly reports, AVETMISS compliance, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation is notably challenging. While validation has been reviewed in many articles, let's return to the basics. The Australian Skills Quality Authority describes assessment review as granular review of the assessment process.
Principally, assessment validation is designed to identify which parts of an RTO’s assessment methods 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 regulations, 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 regulations mandate two forms of validation. The first type of assessment validation ensures compliance with the requirements of the training package within your organisation'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 performed in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will discuss the first type—assessment tool validation.
What are the Two Types of Assessment Validation?
- Assessment Tool Validation: Referred to as pre-assessment validation or verification, deals with the first part of the regulation, aimed at ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Involves the execution, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
Timing for Assessment Tool Validation
The goal of validating assessment tools is to ensure that all components, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new learning resources, you must conduct assessment tool validation prior to student use. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Review new tools immediately to confirm they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to do this type of validation. Do validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Improve your resources
- Introduce new training products on scope
- Evaluate your course with training product updates
- Recognise 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 learning resources before being used. All RTOs must validate resources for each subject unit.
Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation
To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It identifies which evaluation items meet unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an find it here assessment resource during validation. Check if instructions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also check if guidelines for assessors are sufficient and if clear standards for each assessment task are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment results.
- Additional Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, evaluation registers, and evaluation templates developed separately from the learner workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity 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 panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Teaching and Learning.
- Either of the following training and assessment credentials:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Principles Guiding 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: Is the assessment relevant to the skills and knowledge it aims to evaluate?
- Consistency: 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: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?
Key Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks in the unit specifications and ensure they are addressed by the assessment task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one required performance evidence asks students to:
- Perform diaper changes
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare and give solid food to babies
- 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
Asking students to describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old does not 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 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 assessment item must address all requirements, or the student is not competent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.
Be Specific!
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the evaluator’s decision on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not mislead students or evaluators.
Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately evaluate student competence.
Ensuring Audit Compliance
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 affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.
By following these guidelines and understanding the assessment principles and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are reliable with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.