Why do RTOs get validation wrong?

Because we taught them to.

Stay with me.

The validation required by the Vocational Education sector regulator ASQA is very different to what we teach trainers and assessors in the unit TAEASS403 Participate in Assessment Validation, from the TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

What is required of students who complete TAEASS403 Participate in Assessment Validation?

TAEASS403 requires people to:

1. Prepare for validation
2. Participate in the validation of assessment tools
3. Contribute to validation outcomes

Under “participate in the validation of assessment tools” they must (simplified)

1. Demonstrate active participation in validation sessions
2. Apply principles of assessment and rules of evidence
3. Check the assessments include clear instructions for assessor and candidate and address the assessment conditions
4. Check that assessment tasks include clear and concise student instructions
5. Check that assessment decision-making rules are clear and enable consistent outcomes
6. Check that recording mechanisms allow for sufficient information to be recorded
7. Review and use assessment maps to assist in determining validity of assessments

The performance evidence says, among other things, that students must “actively participate in three validation sessions that address the critical aspects of validation.”

What are these “critical aspects of validation”?

To answer this, we need to go back to the days of Range Statements being included in all units of competency. You don’t see Range Statements much anymore and certainly the current TAE Training Package units do not include them.

We have to refer back to the superseded version of Participate in assessment validation, TAEASS403B.

It had a range statement, and it said the critical aspects of validation are:

• validation of of assessment
  • processes
  • methods and
  • products.

What Does ASQA Require for Assessment Validation?

This is where the discrepancy comes in.

ASQA have a very thorough guide including videos and examples of how RTOs should conduct validation.

Certainly, much of TAEASS403 participate in assessment validation is consistent with what ASQA requires. But ASQA require much more.

One of the biggest differences is that ASQA require the validation team to review the assessment decisions that were made and the evidence the decision were based on. This must include a statistically valid sample of completed student evidence.

They even provide a handy calculator for this.

Nowhere in TAEASS403 participate in assessment validation does it specify that validation involves the review of assessment evidence or decisions made.

So all Trainers and Assessors with a TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment have been trained to validate only the:

• assessment processes
• assessment methods
• assessment products

And that’s why many RTOs are getting it wrong.

Where else can we look for guidance on validation?

We know TAEASS403 is about participating in assessment validation. Perhaps we can look to the lead validator for guidance on a more compliant approach.

Some people who hold either of the TAE Diplomas may have done TAEASS503 Lead assessment validation processes.

This unit requires them to “Initiate validation in line with Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) guidelines…”

From that perspective, they’d need to follow ASQA’s approach, as linked above.

But this unit is an elective in both of the Diplomas. So we can’t count on everyone with a TAE Diploma to hold this unit.

Interestingly, the unit of competency with the approach most consistent with ASQA’s is in the even older TAA40104 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (endorsed in 2004).

In the old TAA40104’s superseded version of Participate in assessment validation (TAAASS404B), it actually specified an assessment validation approach that required:

“participation in validation sessions and activities, includes the review, comparison and evaluation of:

• […]
• the collected evidence
• assessment decisions including the exercise of judgement

And in its range statement, its definition of the the critical aspects of validation was different to the later TAE10 version, stating”

• assessment processes
• methods and tools
• the collected evidence leading to assessment decisions
• assessment decisions

Is TAEASS403 validation actually “verification”?

In 2021 I participated in an ASQA webinar. In it they clarified terminology. They described the review of assessment tools without considering assessment evidence and decisions as “verification.”

So would a more fitting name for TAEASS403 “participate in assessment verification”?

Is TAEASS403 a suitable unit for RTO assessors?

Yes. Having been involved in the facilitation and assessment of this unit for many years, this is an excellent unit of competency.

One of the things we love most about running the small group validation sessions for our Certificate IV in Training and Assessment learners at Accellier, is how the validation sessions give participants a really in depth look at what makes for quality assessment tools.

Would you like to learn more about how to conduct quality assessment validation?

Let us know below!