Assessment Validation Overview

Training Organisations manage various responsibilities post-registration, including annual statements, AVETMISS data submission, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation is particularly challenging. While validation has been reviewed in several posts, let's return to the basics. ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority) identifies validation of assessments as granular review of the evaluation process.

Primarily, assessment validation is focused on identifying 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, 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 forms of validation. The primary type of assessment validation guarantees adherence to the requirements of the training package within your RTO'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 discuss the first type—assessment tool validation.

Exploring the Types of Assessment Validation

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

How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

Optimal Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The purpose of validating assessment tools is to verify that all components, performance criteria, and evidence of performance and knowledge are included by your assessment tools. Therefore, whenever you purchase new learning resources, you must perform assessment tool validation before students use them. There's no need to wait for your next five-year validation cycle. Check new resources right away to verify they are suitable for student use.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only time to do this type of validation. Do assessment tool validation also when you:

- Enhance your resources
- Add new training products on scope
- Compare 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.

What Training Products Require Validation

Note that this validation ensures conformity of all educational resources before being used. All RTOs must validate resources for each subject unit.

Resources Required for 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 identifies which evaluation items meet course unit requirements, helping with faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and input fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if guidelines for assessors are sufficient and if clear standards for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable evaluation results.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include evaluation checklists, evaluation registers, and templates created separately from the workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and address course unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

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

Collectively, your assessment validation panel must have:

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

Principles of Assessment

- Equity: Is the assessment process fair and equitable for all candidates?
- Adaptability: 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?
- Consistency: Will the assessment produce consistent results every time?

Evidence Rules

- Validity: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Is there enough evidence to ensure that the learner has the skills and knowledge required?
- Originality: Does the evidence confirm the originality of the candidate's work?
- Currency: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?

Important Factors in Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the verbs in the unit criteria and ensure they are addressed by the evaluation task. For example, in the unit CHCECE032 Baby and Toddler Care, one performance criteria asks ASQA assessment validation students to:

- Change diapers
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Prepare solid food and feed babies
- Respond to baby signs and cues properly
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills

Typical Mistakes

Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., knowledge 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 itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students perform only half the tasks listed, it’s not compliant. Each assessment task must meet all specifications, or the student is incompetent, and the assessment tool is non-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 baffle students or evaluators.

Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions

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

Assurance During Audits

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Don't resource developers provide audit guarantees?” However, with these promises, you must wait for an audit before they assist with noncompliance. This affects your compliance history, so it's better to take a preventative and compliant approach.

By following these instructions and understanding the assessment principles and evidence rules, you can ensure that your evaluation tools are compliant with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.