Introduction

Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) have multiple obligations upon registration, including annual statements, AVETMISS compliance, and promotional compliance. Among these tasks, assessment validation often stands out. While validation has been reviewed in several publications, let's revisit the fundamental principles. ASQA describes assessment validation as granular review of the assessment process.

Essentially, assessment validation is focused on identifying which parts of an RTO's assessment 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 regulations, RTOs must ensure their assessment systems, including RPL, meet the training package requirements and are conducted according to the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

The standards mandate two forms of validation. The first type of assessment review ensures compliance with the training package assessment requirements within your RTO's scope. The second validation guarantees that assessments are conducted according to the principles of assessment and Rules of Evidence. This indicates that we perform validation pre- and post-assessment. This article will concentrate on the initial type—validation of assessment tools.

Types of Assessment Validation

- Assessment Tool Validation: Also called pre-assessment validation or verification, relates to the first part of the rule, aimed at compliance with all unit requirements.
- Post-Assessment Validation: Is concerned with the execution, ensuring that RTO assessments align with the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence.

How to Conduct Assessment Tool Validation

Timing for Assessment Tool Validation

The purpose of assessment tool validation is to verify that all components, criteria for performance, and performance and knowledge evidence are addressed by your assessment methods. Therefore, whenever you purchase new training materials, you must perform assessment tool validation before allowing students to use them. There's no need to wait for your next scheduled validation. Review new materials right away to confirm they are appropriate for students.

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

- Amend your resources
- Include new training products on scope
- Compare your course with training product updates
- Spot 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.

Selecting Training Products for Validation

Bear in mind that this validation guarantees adherence of all training materials before student use. All RTOs must validate materials for each unit.

Resources Required for Assessment Tool Validation

To validate your evaluation tools, you will need the complete set of your training materials:

- Mapping Resource: The first document to review. It identifies which assessment items meet course unit requirements, assisting in faster validation.
- Learner/Student Workbook: Ensure it is suitable as an assessment tool during validation. Check if instructions are clear and answer fields are sufficient. This is a common issue.
- Marking Guide: Also verify if guidelines for trainers are sufficient and if clear standards for each evaluation item are provided. Clear criteria are crucial for reliable assessment outcomes.
- Supplementary Resources: These may include checklists, more info evaluation registers, and forms developed separately from the student workbook and evaluation guide. Validate these to ensure they fit the assessment task and address 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 people. However, RTOs usually require all trainers and evaluators to participate, sometimes including industry experts.

Collectively, your 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 certifications for training and assessment:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment TAE40116 or its successor.

Principles of Assessment

- Fairness: Does the assessment process offer equal opportunity and access to everyone?
- Adaptability: Does the assessment offer various options to demonstrate competence based on different needs and preferences?
- Accuracy: Is the assessment an accurate tool for evaluating the required skills and knowledge?
- Consistency: Are the assessment results consistent regardless of who conducts the training?

Guidelines for Evidence

- Relevance: Does the evidence demonstrate that the candidate has the skills, knowledge, and attributes described in the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements?
- Completeness: Is the evidence sufficient to cover all the required skills and knowledge?
- Authenticity: Is the evidence genuine and truly representative of the candidate's abilities?
- Currency: Is the evidence up-to-date with current industry practices?

Important Factors in Assessment Validation

Pay attention to the tasks 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 evidence requirement asks students to:

- Change diapers
- Feed babies with bottles and clean equipment
- Feed babies with solid food
- React suitably to baby signals and cues
- Prepare and settle babies for sleep
- Supervise and support age-appropriate physical activities and motor development

Common Pitfalls

Asking students to describe the nappy-changing process for babies under 12 months old does not meet the unit requirement. Unless the unit criteria is meant to evaluate underlying knowledge (i.e., evidence of knowledge), students should be performing the tasks.

Be Careful with Plurals!

Pay attention to the frequency. In our example, one of the unit requirements of CHCECE032 Nurture babies and toddlers requires 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 won’t cut it.

Full Competence or Not Competent

Pay attention to itemized requirements. As mentioned earlier, if students only complete half the tasks, it’s out of compliance. Each assessment task must meet all criteria, or the student is not competent, and the assessment method is non-compliant.

Be Specific!

Each assessment item must have clear and specific standard answers to guide the assessor’s evaluation on the student’s competence. Therefore, it’s crucial that your instructions do not mislead students or trainers.

Double-Barrelled Questions: Avoid Them

Not using double-barrelled questions makes it more straightforward for students to respond and for evaluators to accurately judge student competence.

Ensuring Audit Compliance

Considering these requirements, you might wonder, “Do resource developers offer guarantees for audits?” However, with these guarantees, 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 instructions and understanding the Principles of Assessment and evidence rules, you can ensure that your assessment tools are reliable with the regulations mandated by ASQA and the SRTOs 2015.