Intro to RTO Assessment Validation
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) handle various responsibilities upon registration, including yearly declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is particularly challenging. While validation has been covered in many publications, a review of the basics is necessary. ASQA describes assessment validation as granular review of the assessment process.
Basically, assessment review is about 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, adhere to the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
The regulations specify two types of validation. The first type of assessment validation guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The other type guarantees that assessments follow the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This indicates that validation is performed pre- and post-assessment. This article will discuss the first type—assessment tool validation.
Differentiating Assessment Validation Types
- Assessment Tool Validation: Also known as pre-assessment validation or verification, is concerned with the initial part of the regulation, aimed at compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Pertains to the implementation, making sure RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.
Conducting Assessment Tool Validation
When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation
The aim of validating assessment tools is to verify that all elements, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you acquire 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 five-year validation cycle. Review new resources right away to verify they are suitable for student use.
Nevertheless, this isn't the only occasion to conduct this type of validation. Perform validation of assessment tools also when you:
- Modify your resources
- Expand with new training products on scope
- Examine your course with training product updates
- Recognise 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 Requiring Validation
Remember that this validation guarantees adherence of all learning resources before student use. All RTOs must validate training products for each subject unit.
Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation
To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:
- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an evaluation tool during validation. Check if directions are clear and response areas are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Assessor Guide: Also ensure if directions for assessors are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, evaluation registers, and templates developed separately from the workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the assessment activity and comply with course unit requirements.
Validation Panel
Regulation 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 trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including industry experts.
Collectively, your panel must have:
- Vocational Competencies and Up-to-date Industry Skills relevant to the unit under validation.
- Current Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following credentials for training and assessment:
- TAE40116 Training and Assessment Certificate IV or its successor.
Principles Guiding Assessment
- Impartiality: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Flexibility: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Reliability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?
Evidence Rules
- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the get more info unit of competency?
- Adequacy: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Originality: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date industry practices?
Specific Considerations for Assessment Validation
Pay attention to the tasks 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 evidence requirement asks students to:
- Change diapers
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- Respond appropriately to baby signs and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- 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 evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge-based evidence), students should be doing the tasks.
Mind the Plurals!
Pay attention to the quantities. 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 does not fulfill the requirement.
Full Competence or Not Competent
Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment item must address all criteria, or the student is not competent, and the assessment tool is out of compliance.
Can You Be More Specific?
Each evaluation task must have clear and specific benchmark answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your directions do not confuse students or trainers.
Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them
Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it simpler 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 guarantees, 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 recommendations and understanding the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are compliant with the requirements set by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.