The purpose of assessment is to determine competency in:

Salford College                BSBMGT517 -Manage operational plan

• Assessment will be undertaken off-the-job.
• Access is to be provided to simulated or authentic workplace documents.

Resource requirements for assessment

For the assessment of this unit of competency, the following resources are required:

• workplace documents
• case studies and, where possible, real situations
• office equipment and resources
• interaction with others.

The characteristics of the learners may include the following:

• people with non-English-speaking backgrounds
• individuals with some work experience
• individuals currently working in a leadership role.

“Assessment is the process of collecting evidence and making judgements on whether competency has been achieved – to confirm that an individual can perform to the standard expected in the workplace, as expressed by the relevant endorsed industry/enterprise competency standards of a Training Package or by the learning outcomes of an accredited course.”

VALIDITY | 

A valid assessment will assess what it claims to assess.

• Covering the full range of skills and knowledge required to demonstrate competency.
• sampling the range of skills and knowledge required to determine competency
• including multiple approaches to assessment for every unit of competency
• resembling the workplace through appropriate simulated assessments
• including mapping to demonstrate how the assessment tool assesses what it claims to assess

RELIABILITY | 

Reliable assessment uses methods and procedures that ensure the competency standards are interpreted and applied consistently from person to person and from context to context.

Assessment Tools ensure reliability of assessment through:

•  Providing clear, unambiguous and well documented assessment tasks.
• providing a consistent summative assessment approach for your assessors
• collecting evidence from a range of locations and times
• including comprehensive checklists for all practical assessments (unpacked from the unit requirements to resemble real vocational processes – to allow recording of observable behaviour)
• including sample answers for all questions, allowing benchmarking against required competency levels

FLEXIBILITY | 

Flexible assessment ensures each candidate is involved in a participatory assessment process.

Assessment Tools ensure flexibility of assessment through:

• including a RPL process for each unit
• allowing the SALFORD to modify and contextualise the assessment to reflect the student’s vocational needs

An assessment system and its processes must not disadvantage or discriminate any person or organisation.

Assessment Tools ensure fairness of assessment through:

• providing detailed candidate information for each assessment task (to help the candidate understand clearly what is expected)
• ensuring equitability for all candidates

CURRENCY  | 

Current evidence will ensure a candidate has the required skills and knowledge at the time of assessment, and the evidence reflects current workplace processes and equipment.

• allowing for the recording of current skills and knowledge
• using current vocational processes
• referring to simulated workplace documents
• allowing for simulated assessments

SUFFICIENCY | 

Sufficient evidence will cover all the elements, performance criteria and required range of variables in the standards against which assessment is to be carried out.

Assessment Tools ensure sufficiency of evidence through:

• including a detailed mapping document to map all evidence collected to the full unit of competency
• allows for multiple observations for practical tasks (as required) to ensure depth of evidence is collected

VALIDITY | 

Valid evidence will allow for consistent judgement for all evidence collected, both now and in the future.

Assessment Tools ensure validity of evidence through:

• allowing for the recording of all evidence
• including comprehensive checklists for all practical assessments (unpacked from the unit requirements to resemble real vocational processes – to allow recording of observable behaviour)
• including sample answers for all questions, allowing benchmarking against required competency levels

The evidence collected is authentic that is, it is actually derived from valid sources and is directly attributable to the individual.

Assessment Tools ensure authenticity of evidence through:

• allowing for direct observation of skills and knowledge
• allowing the RTO to check submitted work for plagiarism (in accordance with RTO policies and procedures)

Types of evidence that can be collected, sighted or validated while conducting assessments can include:

1. Student’s written response to knowledge test
2. Recruitment documentation
3. Assessor’s Observation of interview techniques using assessor’ observation checklist
4. Written report
5. Role-play participation observation using assessor’ observation checklist

1. Step 1: Evidence is gathered
2. Step 2: Rules of evidence are applied –
   evidence is valid, sufficient, current and authentic.
3. Step 3: Evidence meets the full requirements of the unit/s of competency.
4. Step 4: The assessor makes an informed decision about the student’s competency and update competency record.