Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v

Transcription

1 Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Officer(s) responsible for policy: Quality Assurance Manager Secondary officer(s) responsible for policy: Senior Head Trainer and Marking and Completions Team Leader Person(s) responsible for policy review: Quality Assurance Manager Policy endorsed by: Quality Assurance Manager Introduction Standards for Academic Staff gives a clear outline to the obligations any Trainer/Trainer/Assessor must abide by throughout all academic activities to ensure compliance with VET Regulatory Requirements and Standards and maintains consistency and fairness in delivery and assessing activities. Purpose The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance to academic staff of Community Training Australia and any subsidiaries (hereinafter referred to as CTA ) serving in a Trainer/Assessor capacity in regards to competency standards that apply to them within an RTO environment. In the process, this document provides the compliance framework for our assessment methodology in conjunction with individual Training and Assessment Strategies. Legislative Context Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (NVR) Act 2011 VET Quality Framework: o Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015 o Fit and Proper Persons Requirement o Financial Viability Risk Assessment Requirements 2011 o Data Provision Requirements 2012 Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Page 1

2 Definitions Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA): Registered Training Organisation (RTO): Vocational Education and Training (VET): National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (NVR) Act 2011: Vocational Education and Training (VET) Quality Framework: Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTO s) 2015: VET Trainer/Assessor: Direct Supervision: Group Competency: Vocational Competency: The National Regulator for Australia s vocational education and training sector. A training organisation authorised to deliver VET Programs of Study, Skill Sets or accredited courses. Vocational Education and Training prepares students to work within a particular occupational field. Each course is known as a Program of Study. The NVR Act is the regulating Act of the VET Sector. The VET Quality Framework is designed to achieve greater consistency nationally for standards in which Registered Training Organisations operate and how they are enforced. The VET Quality Framework is comprised of: Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015 Fit and Proper Persons Requirement Financial Viability Risk Assessment Requirements 2011 Data Provision Requirements 2012 The Standards for RTO s 2015 describe the requirements an RTO must meet in order to be an authorised training provider ensuring RTO s operate ethically and consider the needs of students and industry. For the purpose of this Policy, a VET Trainer/Assessor is any person engaged to deliver or assess a VET Program of Study. Means that a person conducting training who does not hold the competencies defined within the Standards for Registered Training Organisations. The person must receive regular guidance, support and direction from a person designated by the RTO who does hold the relevant trainer/assessor competencies and relevant industry vocational competencies as determined by the Standards for RTO s It is not necessary for the supervising person to be present during all training delivery but they must review all assessment activities. If a person does not have the trainer/assessor competencies defined by the Standards for RTO s 2015 and the relevant industry vocational competencies, one person with the defined trainer/assessor competencies and one or more people who hold the relevant industry vocational competencies at least to the level being assessed may work together to conduct the assessment activities. Vocational competency is defined as broad industry knowledge and experience combined with a relevant industry qualification. A person who has vocational competency will be familiar with the content of the vocation and will have current experience in the industry. Vocational competency must be considered on an industry by industry basis and with reference to the guidance provided in the Assessment Guidelines of the relevant Training Package. Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Page 2

3 Behaviour and Ethical Standards for Trainer/Assessors: Trainer/Assessors should be acting at all times in compliance with CTA s Code of Conduct, showing respect and professionalism for fellow staff, students, industry representatives and all members of the general public. Refer to CTA s Code of Conduct for further information. Trainer/Assessors need to commit to working ethically, and be aware of Duty of Care concerns that could arise throughout training, tutoring or assessing student responses. All efforts should be taken to ensure that the student is offered appropriate support and action is taken if any risk issues arise. All instances must be accurately recorded and reported to the appropriate management staff. Any inappropriate responses from students within assessments will not be assessed and a notice to the student should be made in writing to inform them that their response is not appropriate and cannot be accepted. These matters must be referred by the Trainer/Assessor to the Campus Manager and Marking and Completions Team Leader prior to action or responses being provisioned to the student. CTA Basic Assessment Model Each Program of Study will be made up of a number of Modules. Each Module is made up of a Unit of Competency or most cases a cluster of similar Units of Competency. Each module will contain a minimum of 4 parts for students to demonstrate competency for the Unit/s of Competency. All assessment activities are designed in line with the Principles or Assessment and Rules of Evidence and demonstrate a student s competency for the following elements: Knowledge Evidence Elements and Performance Criteria Performance Evidence Foundation Skills Please refer to Curriculum Development Policies and Procedures or the relevant Training and Assessment Strategy for further information. CTA Marking Process Model The resulting compliant CTA Marking Process Model is as follows: 1. All Student assessments and resubmission must be saved in the Students File using the approved File Naming Convention. Refer to the File Naming Convention 2. Marking tasks or parts cannot commence without all relevant signatures and dates, including Observation Checklists, Work Placement Documents and Cover Sheets if applicable. Students will be notified in writing of any item not fully completed and the appropriate Campus Coordinator or Trainer/Assessor will follow up. Refer to relevant Marking Procedures 3. Trainer/Assessors must have a clear understanding of the correct interpretation of the assessment item being marked and the corresponding Marking Guides. 4. Trainer/Assessors must have a clear understanding of the appropriate Marking Procedure which is available to all Trainer/Assessors within the Quality Assurance section of PBWorks. All assessment and resubmission marking must be completed within a 9 day turnaround unless special circumstances apply. 5. The standard 9 day marking turnaround time may only be modified at the discretion of the Campus Manager, Marking and Completions Team Leader or Senior Management. In all such cases, students Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Page 3

4 would need to be notified of any changes to the marking timeframes in writing ordinarily via . This would need to be sent by the Trainer/Assessor normally. 6. Any inappropriate student behaviour such as plagiarism, cheating or less than professional responses, must be resubmitted with a first and final warning to the student. These cases need to be referred to the Marking and Completions Team Leader for advice and investigation in all instances. 7. All student assessments should be submitted in such a way that it is fully readable and clear. Cursive writing, small or extremely messy writing that is unable to be read will not be accepted and will need to be resubmitted in form able to be assessed. If there are any such issues with assessments, please refer to the Marking and Completions Team Leader for advice. 8. CTA Trainer/Assessors marking students work must fulfil the requirements as set out in the Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015 or under direct supervision by a designated CTA Academic member of staff. 9. For quality assurance purposes, the CTA Completions Team will conduct an audit of all student submissions provisioned a result by a Trainer/Assessor. This process ensures that all requirements have been met by the student and Trainer/Assessor prior to formal results being issued. 10. All Trainer/Assessors must partake in Moderation and Validation activities during employment. All Trainer/Assessors must attend regular Quality Circle meetings which form part of the Moderation activities of a CTA Trainer/Assessor. Refer to CTA Moderation and Validation Policies and Procedures that govern this area. 11. All Trainer/Assessors must maintain industry and vocational education and training currency throughout their employment with CTA. This information must be maintained by the Trainer/Assessor on individual Staff Profile pages within PBWorks. Maintaining VET and Industry Skills Currency All Academic Staff of RTO s including Trainer/Assessors are required to demonstrate currency for both industry skills and vocational education and training. Please refer to the ASQA Fact Sheet Meeting Trainer and Assessor Requirements: CTA Trainer/Assessors are required to adhere to the below schedule throughout their employment with CTA to demonstrate currency in the relevant area/s: Industry Skills Trainer/Assessors must demonstrate they have maintained, upgraded or developed skills relevant to current industry needs at least once in every 6 month period in which they are engaged as a Trainer/Assessor. Evidence of this participation must be provided to CTA and maintained by the Trainer/Assessor on individual Staff Profiles. The following are suitable means to demonstrate industry currency: o Being exposed to and participating in workplace tasks in relevant industry workplaces, this does not include delivering training in a workplace o Participation in relevant professional development activities o Participation in relevant networks o Personal development o Undertaking accredited training o Participating in part time or casual work within the relevant industry Vocational Education and Training Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Page 4

5 Trainer/Assessors must demonstrate they have maintained, upgraded or develop the way in which they train and assess at least once in every 12 month period in which they are engaged as a Trainer/Assessor. Evidence of this participation must be provided to CTA and maintained by the Trainer/Assessor on individual Staff Profiles. The following are suitable means to demonstrate currency within vocational education, learning and assessment: o Participate in internal or external courses, workshops, seminars and/or conferences o Demonstrating recent completion of a VET training product o Participate in learning networks or educational forums o Personal development o Participate in Moderation and/or Validation activities Trainer/Assessor Staff Profiles and Records Trainer/Assessors are responsible for updating their own Staff Profile Matrix every 6 months. Failure to meet this requirement can cause non-compliance and corrective measures to be considered. Trainer/Assessors are required to keep the CTA Human Resources Department notified of professional development activities. The Staff Profile Matrix will be audit regularly by the HR Manager, Quality Assurance Manager, the Senior Head Trainer or respective Head Trainer. Principles of Assessment The Principles of Assessment state that competency-based assessment must be fair, flexible, valid and reliable. Trainer/Assessors must ensure that assessment decisions involve the evaluation of sufficient evidence to enable a judgement to be made on the student s competence against the unit requirements. Fairness refers to the consideration or individual student needs throughout the assessment process and ensures that reasonable adjustments are applied by the RTO to take into account the individual needs of each student. In addition the RTO informs the student of the assessment process and provides mechanisms for the student to challenge the result of an assessment and be reassessed if necessary. See Reasonable Adjustment for further information. Flexibility refers to assessment practices being flexible for the individual by reflecting their needs, assessing their competencies no matter how or when they were acquired and drawing from a range of assessment methods and using those appropriate to the context, the Unit/s of Competency and associated assessment requirements, and the individual Validity refers to the evidence of performance for the individual learner to justify any assessment decision. Validity requires that judgement of competence is based on evidence gathered of learner performance that is aligned to the Unit/s of Competency and associated assessment requirements. In addition, assessment of the Unit/s of Competency covers a broad range of skills and knowledge essential to competent performance and is integrated into practical application defined by the Unit/s of Competency. Reliability refers to the degree of consistency and accuracy of the assessment outcomes; that is, the extent to which the assessment provides similar outcomes for students with equal competence at different times or places, regardless of the Trainer/Assessor conducting the assessment. Rules of Evidence The evidence gathered and utilised to make a decision of competence must be valid, sufficient, authentic and current. These are known as the Rules of Evidence. Trainer/Assessors must ensure that assessment Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Page 5

6 decisions are made with sufficient evidence available to them to enable an informed and supported judgement. Validity ensures that the evidence directly relates to the Unit/s of Competency being assessed. Sufficiency ensures there is enough evidence available to make a valid judgement of competence. Authenticity ensures that the evidence being assessed is that of the individual student, is their own work and in their own words and relates to the individuals skills and knowledge. Currency ensures the evidence being assessed demonstrates that an individual has sufficient skills and knowledge to support a competent assessment decision at the time a decision is made against a Unit/s of Competency. Reasonable Adjustment The assessment process should not prevent any persons from demonstrating their competence, skills or knowledge because the design of the assessment failed to take account the individual student. Assessment methods may be adjusted for particular students (such as people with disabilities or cultural differences) to ensure that the methods do not disadvantage them because of their situation. An assessment should not place unnecessary demands on students which may prevent them from demonstrating competence. For example, an assessment should not demand a higher level of English Language or literacy than that required to perform to the workplace standard outlined in the competencies being assessed. Trainer/Assessors should take into consideration any limitations the student may have in completing an assessment task and make every effort to have reasonable adjustments made to assist the student in demonstrating their competence, skills or knowledge. If any issue irises where the Trainer/Assessor can see reasonable adjustment should be made or a student has requested this, the Trainer/Assessor should discuss their plan with the respective Head Trainer or the Marking and Completions Team Leader. Student Record Keeping It is the responsibility of the Trainer/Assessor to record and correctly store any evidence presented to them by the student which enables an assessment decision to be made. This includes; records of conversation, Observation Checklists or resubmissions submitted directly to the Trainer/Assessor. All evidence used to inform an assessment decision must be saved to the student s record within the CTA Server Files using the correct File Naming Conventions. Updates to the marking process must be made promptly and notify all relevant staff. Recording of Results Trainer/Assessors are required as part of the marking process to record assessment results in written format either via a Marking and Comments Sheet or relevant Learning Management System. The result provisioned to the student throughout the marking process will be in accordance with those detailed in the marking process. All tasks within a module must be assessed as either Satisfactory or Not Satisfactory and the student provided with appropriate feedback within the standard marking timeframes. Marking Guide Trainer/Assessors must use the appropriate version of Marking Guide throughout the marking process to ensure consistency in all marking outcomes irrespective of the Trainer/Assessor. The Marking Guide is Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Page 6

7 designed to ensure Trainer/Assessors are equipped with sufficient details on each assessment activity and what is required for competency to be demonstrated. Any discrepancies or concerns regarding a Marking Guide must be notified to the respective Head Trainer immediately for rectification to occur if required or for the assessment activity to be further investigated throughout Moderation activities. RPL/CT s It will be expected for the Candidate to map their existing evidence against each of the Elements and Performance Criteria, Performance Evidence and Knowledge Evidence. as indicated in each unit matrix or alternatively undertake CTA s designed RPL Mode assessment only pathway. Evidence may include workplace references, resume, or any other documented information that can be mapped against Elements and Performance Criteria, Performance Evidence or Knowledge Evidence. A suitably qualified Trainer/Assessor will review all materials submitted by the student and carry out assessing procedures in line with CTA s RPL Marking Procedure. Refer to the RPL Marking Process for further information. All RPL assessment must maintain the Principles of Assessment and Rules of Evidence throughout the assessing process and results issued accordingly. Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Page 7

8 RTO Standards Addressed Clause 1.13 In addition to the requirements specified in Clause 1.14 and Clause 1.15, the RTO s training and assessment is delivered only by persons who have: vocational competencies at least to the level being delivered and assessed; current industry skills directly relevant to the training and assessment being provided; and current knowledge and skills in vocational training and learning that informs their training and assessment. Industry experts may also be involved in the assessment judgement, working alongside the trainer and/or Trainer/Assessor to conduct the assessment. Clause 1.14 The RTO s training and assessment is delivered only by persons who have: prior to 1 January 2016, the training and assessment qualification specified in Item 1 or Item 2 of Schedule 1, or demonstrated equivalence of competencies; and From 1 January 2016, the training and assessment qualification specified in Item 1 or Item 2 of Schedule 1. Clause 1.15 Where a person conducts assessment only, the RTO ensures that the person has: prior to 1 January 2016, the training and assessment qualification specified in Item 1 or Item 2 or Item 3 of Schedule 1, or demonstrated equivalence of competencies; and From 1 January 2016, Item 1 or Item 2 or Item 3 of Schedule 1. Clause 1.16 The RTO ensures that all trainers and Trainer/Assessors undertake professional development in the fields of the knowledge and practice of vocational training, learning and assessment including competency based training and assessment. What this Standard means for your RTO To provide training that reflects current industry practice and valid assessment, your RTO s trainers and Trainer/Assessors must maintain the currency of their skills and knowledge in their industry area and in vocational education and training. It is also acceptable for an appropriately qualified trainer and Trainer/Assessor to work with an industry expert to conduct assessment together. From 1 January 2016, your trainers and Trainer/Assessors must hold one or more of: Certificate IV in Training and Assessment a qualification in adult education at a diploma or higher level. Anyone who provides assessment only (i.e. does not deliver training) must hold one or more of: Trainer/Assessor Skill Set Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Page 8

9 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment a qualification in adult education at a diploma or higher level. While there is no prescription as to how trainers and Trainer/Assessors must maintain their currency in industry skills, it is the responsibility of your RTO to retain evidence that shows: your trainers and Trainer/Assessors current industry skills and knowledge that trainer and Trainer/Assessor knowledge directly relates to the training and/or assessment they are providing. Clause 1.17 Where the RTO, in delivering training and assessment, engages an individual who is not a trainer or Trainer/Assessor, the individual works under the supervision of a trainer and does not determine assessment outcomes. Clause 1.18 The RTO ensures that any individual working under the supervision of a trainer under Clause 1.17: holds the skill set defined in Item 4 of Schedule 1 or, prior to 1 January 2016, is able to demonstrate equivalence of competencies; has vocational competencies at least to the level being delivered and assessed; and has current industry skills directly relevant to the training and assessment being provided. Clause 1.19 Where the RTO engages an individual under Clause 1.17, it ensures that the training and assessment complies with Standard 1 Clause 1.20 Without limiting Clauses , the RTO: determines and puts in place: o the level of the supervision required; and o any requirements, conditions or restrictions considered necessary on the individual s involvement in the provision of training and collection of assessment evidence; and ensures that trainers providing supervision monitor and are accountable for all training provision and collection of assessment evidence by the individual under their supervision. Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Page 9

10 SCHEDULE 1 ITEM 1 ITEM 2 ITEM 3 ITEM 4 RELEVANT STANDARD , 1.15 AQF QUALIFICATION OR UNIT OF COMPETENCY TAE40110 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or its successor. RELEVANT STANDARD 1.14, 1.15 AQF QUALIFICATION OR UNIT OF COMPETENCY A diploma or higher level qualification in adult education. RELEVANT STANDARD 1.15 AQF QUALIFICATION OR UNIT OF COMPETENCY TAESS00001 Trainer/Assessor Skill Set or its successor. RELEVANT STANDARD 1.18 AQF QUALIFICATION OR UNIT OF COMPETENCY a. TAESS00007 Enterprise Trainer Presenting Skill Set or its successor or b. TAESS00008 Enterprise Trainer Mentoring Skill Set or its successor c. TAESS00003 Enterprise Trainer and Trainer/Assessor Skill Set or its successor. Policy 39 Standards for Academic Staff v Page 10

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