Assessment Validation Overview

Registered Training Organisations have many duties after becoming registered, such as yearly declarations, AVETMISS reporting, and marketing compliance. Among these tasks, validation of assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been reviewed in multiple publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. The Australian Skills Quality Authority identifies assessment review as a quality review of the evaluation process.

Principally, assessment validation is aimed at identifying which parts of an RTO’s evaluation 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 regulations require two types of validation. The primary type of assessment validation checks conformity with the requirements of the training package within your organisation's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments adhere to the principles of assessment and rules of evidence. This suggests that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will focus on the first type—assessment tool validation.

Two Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Often termed pre-assessment validation or verification, pertains to the primary part of the clause, ensuring meeting all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is related to the implementation, verifying that RTOs conduct assessments according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

When to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

The goal of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all aspects, performance standards, 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 scheduled validation. Review new tools as soon as possible to confirm they are suitable for student use.

Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason to perform this type of validation. Conduct assessment tool validation also when you:

- Improve your resources
- Include new training products on scope
- Assess your course with training product updates
- Identify 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 use. All RTOs must validate materials for each course unit.

Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation

To start assessment tool validation, you will need the complete set of your educational resources:

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It shows which assessment items meet unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- 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.
- Assessor Guide/Marking Guide: Also check if instructions for evaluators are sufficient and if clear criteria for each assessment item are provided. Clear standards are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, logs, and forms designed separately from the workbook and assessor guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment activity and comply with unit requirements.

Assessment Validation Panel

Clause 1.11 specifies the requirements for members of the validation panel. It states validation can be performed by one or more awesome site people. However, RTOs usually ask all educators and assessors to participate, sometimes including sector experts.

Collectively, your panel must have:

- Workplace Competencies and Current Industry Skills relevant to the validated unit.
- Updated Knowledge and Skills in Vocational Education.
- Either of the following certifications for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.

Assessment Principles

- Impartiality: Is equal opportunity and access provided to everyone in the assessment process?
- 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?
- Reliability: Will different assessors make the same decision on skill competence?

Rules of Evidence

- Appropriateness: Is the evidence relevant to the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency?
- 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: 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
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- 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

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 assess theoretical understanding (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be performing the tasks.

Watch Out for the Plurals!

Pay attention to the quantities. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers calls for 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.

All or Nothing Competence

Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must address all requirements, or the student is not yet competent, and the evaluation tool is not compliant.

Provide Specific Details

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 instructions do not confuse students or assessors.

Steer Clear of Double-Barrelled Questions

Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it easier for students to respond and for trainers to accurately assess student competence.

Assurance During Audits

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

By following these recommendations and understanding the principles of assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment tools are valid with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.