{Validation of Assessment pertaining to Registered Training Organizations throughout the Australian landscape :

Intro to Validating Assessments for RTOs

Training Organisations manage numerous obligations after becoming registered, including yearly declarations, AVETMISS data submission, and marketing adherence. Among these tasks, validating assessments is notably challenging. While validation has been covered in many articles, a review of the basics is necessary. ASQA identifies assessment review as a quality review of the evaluation process.

Essentially, assessment review is dedicated to 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 regulations, 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 regulations mandate two types of validation. The first type of validation of assessments checks conformity with the training package assessment requirements within your organisation's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments follow the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence. This suggests that validation is carried out in both pre- and post-assessment stages. This article will concentrate on the primary type—assessment tool validation.

Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Commonly called pre-assessment validation or verification, relates to the primary part of the rule, focusing on ensuring all unit requirements are met.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Deals with the execution, ensuring RTOs conduct assessments in line with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

Steps to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

Scheduling Assessment Tool Validation

The purpose of validating assessment tools is to make sure that all aspects, criteria for performance, and evidence of performance and knowledge are addressed by your evaluation tools. Therefore, whenever you acquire new training materials, you must conduct assessment tool validation prior to student use. 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 assessment tool validation also when you:

- Modify your resources
- Include new training products on scope
- Audit your course with training product updates
- Flag 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.

What Training Products Require Validation

Note that this validation guarantees adherence of all training materials before being used. All RTOs must validate resources for each unit.

Necessary Resources for Assessment Tool Validation

To validate your assessment tools, you will need the complete set of your learning resources:

- Mapping Document: The first document to review. It indicates which assessment items meet unit website requirements, aiding in 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.
- Assessor Guide/Marking 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 evaluation checklists, registers, and evaluation templates created separately from the student workbook and marking guide. Validate these to ensure they suit the evaluation task and comply with course unit 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 trainers and assessors to participate, sometimes including industry experts.

Collectively, your panel must have:

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

Principles Guiding Assessment

- Fairness: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Flexibility: Are there multiple ways to demonstrate competence, accommodating different needs and preferences?
- Relevance: Does the assessment evaluate what it is intended to evaluate?
- Consistency: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Rules of Evidence

- Validity: Is the evidence appropriate to the requirements of the unit of competency?
- Completeness: Does the evidence adequately demonstrate the required skills and knowledge?
- Genuineness: Does the assessment tool verify that the work is the candidate’s own?
- Relevance: Are the assessment tools based on current units of competency and up-to-date 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 Caring for Babies and Toddlers, one required performance evidence asks students to:

- Perform diaper changes
- Prepare bottles, bottle feed babies and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Get babies ready for sleep and settle them
- Monitor and encourage age-appropriate physical exploration and gross motor skills

Common Pitfalls

Describing the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months does not fulfill the unit requirement. Unless the unit specification 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 numbers. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 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 Nothing Competence

Pay attention to enumerated tasks. As mentioned earlier, if students do not complete all the tasks listed, it’s non-compliant. Each assessment task must meet all specifications, or the student is not yet competent, and the assessment tool is not compliant.

Provide Specific Details

Each assessment 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 mislead students or evaluators.

Avoid Double-Barrelled Questions

Steering clear of double-barrelled questions makes it simpler for students to respond and for assessors to accurately evaluate student competence.

Audit Guarantees

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

By following these instructions and understanding the Principles of Assessment and rules of evidence, you can ensure that your assessment methods are valid with the standards established by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.