Introduction

The goals

1. To follow a strategy to consistently, systematically and easily produce compliant assessment tools.
1. It needs to be workable to produce large numbers of tools.
2. It should, where possible, use standardized templates.
2. To have a set of assessment activities so that a student has passed the unit when he/she has satisfactorily done all its required activities.
3. To have assessment activities that are:
1. Clearly explained to students
2. Clearly mapped to unit requirements
3. Assessed on a clear, specific set of criteria
4. Recorded in such a way that a third party (validator, auditor) could easily to see how the assessment decision relates to the criteria and the assessed evidence. (This demonstrates that the assessment system was reliable.)

Good practice

1. Whenever possible, everything should be written only once. Unfortunately, it's not always possible, but at least "copy and paste" can reduce the burden.
2. Everything in a set of assessment tools should be useful for doing actual assessments. Don’t write an assessment tool document just to show to an auditor.
3. A reader (validator or auditor) should be able to check assessment results and see exactly how they relate to tasks, evidence, and unit requirements.
4. It would be ideal if RPL students and taught students could have the same assessments. Unfortunately, this is not always feasible.
5. Assessment tools need to be easy to re-write or edit when training packages change.
6. Assessment tools should be reusable without change. (In some kinds of examinations, the questions need to be re-written for every assessment.)

Implications of this approach

1. Each qualification for each different job description and context (and perhaps each different organization), requires a separate set of assessment tools. In a website, each set would be stored in a separate folder.
2. All assessment tools must have a defined context:
1. An assessment tool is unsuitable for RPL if it is narrowly designed, e.g. for a specific organization or job description.
2. A set of assessment tools for a broader context is suitable for RPL.
3. Some assessment activities can be recycled, for example, they can be used as is for multiple units, or edited for a different context.

Note that tools can take different forms:

1. Whole qualification: one document covers the whole qualification (e.g. RPL Done Well).
2. Clusters of units
3. Task by task: different combinations of tasks contribute to different qualifications (e.g. COSAMP).
4. Unit by unit: One tool covers one unit. Different combinations of units contribute to different qualifications (e.g. many TAFE courses).
5. LMS and workbook. These usually take a task-by task approach, and learning materials are usually interspersed with assessment activities. Presenting mapping in a LMS can be very different from other media.

 

At qualification level

1. Start with a job description of the students’ role in which they will be assessed.
2. If the context is not yet clear, write it in (e.g. lunch bar, coffee-and-cake café, alcohol and drug rehab, church youth ministry.)
3. State the LLN skills required for the job.
4. Select the qualification and elective units that best fit both the job description and the packaging rules for the qualification.

 

Each unit

1. Get a soft copy of the unit into your word processor on your computer.
2. Even if it's interesting, delete everything that isn't actually a requirement (e.g advice, unnecessary section titles, general descriptions, etc.)
3. Keep the unit code and full title, and the parts of the unit descriptor that are a good explanation of what the unit is about.
4. If a requirement is stated more than once, delete the extras so everything is said just once. For example, "Essential skills" or "Required skills" are often repeated in the performance criteria. (You still have to require them all, but you don’t need to list them more than once.)
5. If a requirement is directed at the assessor, the assessor has to comply with it, not the students. However, you need to include all requirements somewhere. You might be able to say, "The assessor will ..."
6. Tidy up page layout. Get rid of boxes and unnecessary numbering. Make it look good and easy to read.
7. Get rid of gobbledygook. Units need to be in the kind of plain English that is used in the everyday workplace. Put the text into language that is user-friendly (or at least useful to users). In particular, performance criteria are sometimes written very badly. For example, if it says "in accordance with," replace it with "according to.")
8. Label unit parts. E.g.
1. RS (Required skills)
2. CA (Conditions of assessment)
3. RE (Required evidence)
4. El 1/Pc (Element 1 and performance criteria)
9. Label foundation skills.
1. If the package has already done it, copy it in as an appendix.
2. If you have to do it yourself, it works better to do it at element level, despite the trend to do it for individual performance criteria.

 

Include items from industry consultation

1. Contextualize units as far as possible. For example:
1. If students have to know legislation, include a simple synopsis of what they need to know. (If it is long and complex, you might need a whole separate assessment document.)
2. If it says "in accordance with organizational procedure" and you're working in a real or simulated workplace, you can refer them to the actual procedure. Otherwise (e.g. RPL), simplify it to "according to your organization's procedure."
3. If it says "relevant person" tell them exactly who. Often (but not always), it simply means "your supervisor."
4. You might need to briefly include any "how-to" information" so your students can understand what is expected.
2. Check that everything is in a useful order so your students can understand it easily.

 

Assessment activities

1. Decide on assessment activities that relate to unit requirements. (Technically called modes of assessment.) For taught units:
1. Some tasks can start and end at specific times.
2. Some tasks are ongoing responsibilities, so it works best to have an assessment period on the job.
2. What items of evidence will you generate or collect? Items of evidence need to be put in a form that can be stored.
1. Observation records. (See appendix.) (Video or sound files are also acceptable.)
2. Use evidence that naturally exists as part of the job (e.g. workplace documents).
3. Some assignments can be acceptable, but they usually parallel workplace documents.
4. How and where will evidence be stored? This is usually easy, except for case management and counseling records, which are stictly confidential and may not be taken from the workplace where they were generated. The most common option is to black out any identifying information for copies that will be used in validation.
3. Write the task and tell students exactly what to do and what you expect.
4. Write a form for recording the assessment. It must have a list of exactly what you expect.
1. It must map directly to unit requirements (including performance criteria) and foundation skills to indicate that each single requirement was met.
2. It may be the edited, contextualized version of the elements and performance criteria mentioned above.
3. It may include organization-specific requirements derived from industry consultation.
4. The list of exactly what you expect may not be a general reference to the textbook, even if the textbook explains requirements in detail.
5. Have another assessor (or team of assesors) check it:
• Is it clear enough for your students to know exactly what is required for the assessment?
• Is it clear enough for another assessor to know exactly what is required and how to conduct the assessment?
6. Field-test and modify.

 

Required knowledge

Required knowledge is assessed differently from competence and you only need to assess it once. As it is not an assessment of competence, so does not come under the sufficiency rule.

1. Get the "required knowledge" items into a word processor.
2. Turn them into a list of questions.
1. Most can be turned directly into questions.
2. Some questions require only memorized information.
3. When an item is too complex for one question, turn it into a series of questions. Even then, a few items might be so complex that students don’t get the point immediately, and need to work through them in stages.
4. In a few cases, you can assess required knowledge as part of the competency, e.g. "Does the student's report demonstrate knowledge of X?" This works best with knowledge-driven competencies, e.g. interpretation of information. If in doubt, go for a list of questions.
5. In a workplace, the questions can be tied to what the student actually does and your assessment might be more interesting and useful if it refers to application of knowledge.
3. Do mapping as you go. Give each question (or series of questions) a label according to the source in the unit.
4. Put the questions in an order that makes them easier to understand. If there are lots of questions or they cover markedly different topics, you can divide them into different lists under separate headings.
5. Check that questions are clear to students and revise them as needed. Students should be able to see easily the purpose of each question.
6. You now need an answer key. The best way is to get one is to get your test students to write their answers in soft copy so that they are already typed and easy to edit.
1. Answer keys are used to assess student responses in borderline cases.
1. They are essential for open ended questions.
2. They are not useful for most answers, which are clearly either right or wrong.
2. A question needs to be revised when students don’t know what you’re asking.
3. Some students interpret questions quite validly according to what was written, but not as you intended. These questions might need to be revised, but not always. In some cases, it’s enough to note it in the answer guide.
4. Some questions cannot have predetermined answers (e.g. open ended questions, questions where each student must answer according to his/her own organization, questions at higher AQF levels that ask students to interpret their context). Put some guidelines in place about your expectations.
5. A few students will come up with better answers than you anticipate. Include them in your answer key.

Note: Assignments work well for classroom taught students, but are not useful for RPL students.

 

Resources

Indicate where each item is taught in the resources (e.g. textbooks). This may be at unit or element level. (In a few cases, criteria are in effect standalone independent objectives, so it might have to be done at performance criteria level.)

Although references to resources would be better put in the training and assessment strategy, it can be helful to mention them here, at least for compliance purposes.

In a few cases of hands-on learning where book-learning is not useful, resources will more likely be lesson plans, procedure manuals, diagrams, and equipment.

 

Solving problems

1. Problem: It would be difficult to have two (or more sets) of criteria: one set telling students what is expected in the assessment tool, and another in the form for the assessor to use when recording the assessment. The textbook would also have another set, although it is longer and more explanatory.
   Solution: You probably can’t eliminate this problem because each activity needs its own checklist. However, you can minimize it by using the observer checklist like a logbook. Give the document to the student, but the observer/assessor signs it and it becomes an assessment record.
2. How detailed should assessors’ responses be?
1. Assessors must respond to each requirement separately (e.g. each performance criterion) on the sign-off form. It can be a tickbox.
2. Assessors don’t have to comment on each one, they only need to coment on the whole activity.
3. There must be a record of the required assessment activities in the unit statement so that all parties know what they are. It can also be in the software, e.g. "If activities A, B, C, and D are done, then the student has passed the unit.

 

Changes

1. Assessment activities were once the elements. This is no longer required and doesn’t always work, although it can still be done.
2. Adding extra assessment requirements (e.g. from industry consultation) is often necessary, and is sometimes required. It is no longer presumed that the performance criteria alone are concrete enough to be adequate criteria of performance. Adding extra requirements was once forbidden because it was deemed to make the assessment invalid in the sense of not adhering to the competency standard.
3. Tick-box forms go in an out of style.
1. At one stage, they were considered best practice ("The green brick"). They were considered valid because they followed the elements and performance criteria exactly.
2. Then they were considered unsatisfactory practice because so many assessments were "tick and flick" observations.
3. If they only followed the elements and performance criteria, they did not address requirements such as sufficiency of evidence, different kinds of evidence, and reliability.
4. Elements were tasks and performance criteria
1. The original idea was that elements were tasks and performance criteria were standards as to how well the tasks were done.
2. The elements were later often written as section headings for lists of independent objectives.
3. There is now a swing back to the original idea of tying criteria strictly to elements.

 

Opening page

Graduate Certificate in Client Assessment and Case Management

CHC82015

The unit

Case management practice

CHCCSM002 Implement case management practice

This unit is about developing and implementing a complex case management plan based on existing goal-directed plans that address predetermined needs. Case managers work autonomously, with well-developed judgement, adaptability and responsibility. Students in this unit are usually already experienced in working intensively with clients who need support.

This unit applies to work in a range of health and community service sector contexts.

 

How you will be assessed

CA

You will be assessed in the workplace with industry operating conditions:

• use of suitable facilities, equipment and resources, including individualised case management plans
• scenarios that reflect standard operating conditions and contingencies
• links to other local service agencies or organizations.

You will be assessed through:

• Assessor observation
• Supervisor reference (if the assessor is not the supervisor)
• Review of your workplace documents (e.g. procedures and case management notes)
• Interview/assignment based on the requirements below.

You must have implemented case management practice for three complex cases involving people with a diverse range of issues, goals and barriers.

---

 

Interview/assignment questions

RK

1. Describe your organization’s case management practice and approaches, including:
1. client-centred
2. evidence-based
3. holistic
4. inclusive
5. strength-based.
2. Briefly describe the current national standards for case management practice.
3. Describe the full range of services and resources available to your clients.
4. Describe the components of your service delivery system.
5. Describe the funding arrangements for using service and resource providers. (Providers have different arrangements.)
6. Describe the characteristics and needs of the identified client population.
7. Describe the nature and significance of service setting.
8. Describe these legal and ethical considerations relevant to case management:
1. professional standards
2. code of ethics
3. duty of care
4. voluntary assumption of risk
5. informed consent
6. privacy, confidentiality and disclosure
7. mandatory reporting.
9. How are these applied in organizations? In individual practice?
10. Describe your organization’s documentation requirements and practices.
11. What is the best way to handle cases involving multiple service providers?
12. What should you do when you and another organization’s case manager both want to be in charge of your client?
13. What should you do when a client takes much longer than planned in case management?
14. Each of these things could hinder a client from achieving their goals. Give examples of each, and say how to overcome it:
1. mental or emotional issues or events
2. health
3. legal or regulatory constraints
4. incidents or accidents
5. cultural issues
6. service provider issues
7. eligibility criteria
8. housing
9. financial problems
10. alcohol and/or drug use.
15. Describe current case management models and practices in your area of practice.

Note: Your assessor may also ask you a variety of what if questions.

Assignment 1: Portfolio

RK

Prepare a portfolio of cases reflecting all topics below of complex client needs. You will need confidentiality clearances. Your portfolio must show that you understand the cases and responded appropriately:

1. Family relationship problems
2. One or more of the following issues; social, economic, housing and health
3. Complex client circumstances
4. Complex range of issues involved in addressing client needs
5. needs requiring multiple kinds of services with more need to collaborate between service providers
6. A range of needs that may not be met by currently available services and resources
7. Family and/or carer needs that require additional services
8. Unstable health conditions
9. Housing and/or financial problems
10. Alcohol and/or drug use.

---

 

Detailed requirements

1. Initiate complex case management process. El 1/PC, RS. O,In

1. Match the client’s profile against service eligibility criteria, and confirm that they are eligible for case management.
2. Inform the client of all rights and responsibilities and get their consent to case management.
3. Collect information about the client:
1. maintain confidentiality and privacy
2. minimise any duplication.
4. Work with the client to confirm and prioritise their needs and to pursue relevant, achievable and time-framed goals.
5. Recognise and respect the client's right to self-determination within legal parameters.
6. Identify social, economic, housing, personal and family factors that might have influenced the client's health, well-being and level of independence.
7. Discuss the case management process with the client, the complaint and appeal processes and the service criteria for exit.
8. Check whether the client has any specific cultural needs client that might affect the provision of appropriate services and support.
9. Estimate how much case management support the client needs to implement the plan and discuss it with them.

2. Identify and consider possible solutions to complex issues to meet client's needs, achieve goals, and optimise outcomes. El 2/PC, RS. O,In

1. Identify any complex legal and ethical issues and questions about aspects of case management and resolve them (E.g. ask for appropriate resources)..
2. Identify complex issues relating to funding of service provision and administer resources.
3. Address ethical standards to protect the client’s autonomy, dignity, privacy and rights.
4. Advocate for client-centred solutions at service delivery and policy-making levels.
5. Collaborate with colleagues, professionals and between services as needed.
6. Maintain up-to-date knowledge of, and links with, available resources and services within the community.
7. Follow your organization’s guidelines and any regulatory requirements in doing the above.

3. Develop plan of action to address identified priorities. El 3/PC, RS. O,In

1. Use client identified goals and needs assessment to develop and agree on a plan of action.
2. Support and develop the client's ability to independently access alternative resources to address needs.
3. Do research to establish an informed plan of action.
4. Evaluate anything that might hinder the client's from meet identified goals, and determine strategies to minimise their effects.
5. Plan actions that are within client's financial resources.
6. Convene and/or participate in case conferences with services providers and/or family, carers, natural supports and relevant others.
7. Ask for and get the client's consent to make any referrals to other services and/or organizations.
8. Give the client timely information about available service options and support them to make informed decisions and exercise choice in all stages of case management.
9. Document the client's goals and determine how you will measure and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

4. Monitor service provision and coordination. El 4/PC, RS. O,In,W.

1. Discuss the case management plan with service providers to identify problems, and adjust it as necessary.
2. Advocate for service system improvements and identify and communicate gaps and/or inadequate services to program managers.
3. Adjust services, supports and resources according to client's needs and financial parameters.
4. If things don’t follow the plan, document it and report the implications to the relevant organization or funding body.

5. Evaluate client outcomes. El 5/PC, RS. O,In

1. The goals of the evaluation are:
1. check against the expectations and goals in the plan
2. determine progress
3. check whether it address client's ongoing situation and changing needs.
2. Get information from clients, service providers, funding bodies and case managers and evaluate it.
3. Regularly re-assess and evaluate
1. outcomes,
2. the effectiveness of case management processes and service delivery,
3. client satisfaction,
4. costs against benefits
5. effectiveness of adjustments to the plan,
6. financial outcomes of adjustments to the plan.
4. Work with the client to evaluate their ongoing support needs to meet their goals. This includes reviewing the parameters for disengagement.
5. Identify opportunities for the client to maintain or develop independence from any aspect of the plan.
6. Document and report client outcomes and satisfaction according to your organization’s requirements.

6. Other.

1. Manage tasks and contingencies on the job
2. This assessment follows the Australian industry code of practice.

 

---

Code for unit reqts: CA: Conditions of assessment El/PC: Element & criteria RE: Required evidence RK: Required knowledge RS: Required skills

Code for Foundation skills: L: Learning Id: Identify beliefs & thinking R: Reading W: Writing

N: Numeracy O: Oral communication N: Navigate world of work In: Interact with others G: Get work done

 

 

Observation form	Mar. 18
Show this checklist to the student. It becomes an assessment record when the observer/assessor fills it in and signs it. The outlined sections indicate items that need to be filled in. Be sure to tick or cross every box in the checklist.

Name of student
Assessment period
Assessment place
Assessment role or job
Name of observer/assessor

Observer response

Requirements

checklist style. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec id quam ultrices, bibendum urna eu, tincidunt nisi. Nullam eget fringilla orci, nec faucibus diam. Donec placerat consectetur feugiat. Aenean arcu tortor, pellentesque ac eros sit amet, volutpat volutpat orci. Fusce eleifend consectetur ligula et euismod. Ut lacus ante, venenatis et elementum non, tempor eget erat. Aenean consequat felis massa, a fringilla est porta eget. Mauris dolor urna, ornare sit amet ex ac, sagittis rutrum sem. Vestibulum sed ipsum porta, volutpat orci ac, feugiat augue. Aenean vel neque sed ipsum rhoncus dictum id at libero. Donec pulvinar turpis nec justo imperdiet facilisis.

Comments and feedback
Date
Signed
If the observer is not the assessor:
Comments and feedback
Signed
Date

 

Portfolio form	Mar. 18
The outlined sections indicate items that need to be filled in. Be sure to tick or cross every box in the checklist. List of documents: Nunc cursus elementum feugiat. Proin vulputate purus in elit consequat aliquet. Nam tortor felis, varius in urna non, varius venenatis lacus. Etiam ultricies eget lorem eget pellentesque. Nulla sed nunc sed risus pretium iaculis id eu neque.

Name of student
Unit
Name of Assessor/observer

Assessor response

Requirements

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec id quam ultrices, bibendum urna eu, tincidunt nisi. Nullam eget fringilla orci, nec faucibus diam. Donec placerat consectetur feugiat. Aenean arcu tortor, pellentesque ac eros sit amet, volutpat volutpat orci. Fusce eleifend consectetur ligula et euismod. Ut lacus ante, venenatis et elementum non, tempor eget erat. Aenean consequat felis massa, a fringilla est porta eget. Mauris dolor urna, ornare sit amet ex ac, sagittis rutrum sem. Vestibulum sed ipsum porta, volutpat orci ac, feugiat augue. Aenean vel neque sed ipsum rhoncus dictum id at libero. Donec pulvinar turpis nec justo imperdiet facilisis.

Assessor comments and feedback
Signed
Date

 

Industry consultation: A centralized approach

One approach to consultation, and the easiest way to maintain compliance, is for the center to have an industry consultation committee that meets several times a year, identifies any new trends, and gives input into assessment tools.

Industry consultation is an essential part of writing assessment tools. However, it is usually done poorly in a decentralized structure where each site must do its own consultation and write its own assessment tools.

The purpose is to find out what skills employers are looking for so that VET graduates will be employable. Consequently, RTOs need to know "Employers X, Y and Z expected M, N and O." The RTO must then expect students to learn M,N,O. In most cases, this is quite straightforward.

A centralized system can better repond to some particular challenges:

1. Most musicians and sound technicians don't have an "employer." They are self-employed and do gigs when they get bookings.
2. Some students will be volunteers and not paid.
3. The purpose of pathway qualifications is to prepare for the next qualification. There is no expected employment outcome.
4. Some students will almost certainly not get jobs with that qualification when they graduate, although they are well set up for another field. (Not many people employ professional dancers, but graduates of lower level dance quals can progress to fitness.)
5. Some ministry and theology programs want to run a personal development course without addressing task roles.
6. In some qualifications, knowledge items don't come up if one looks only at work roles. (How much Bible does an entry-level Christian worker need to know?)

Local contextualization

In a few industries, localized consultation is still best. In hospitality, for example, a lunch bar can be quite different from a coffee-and-cake café, although students in both earn the same qualification. In these cases, it is best to know what each employer expects.

It is ideal to have one set of tools that can work anywhere in the industry for the same units. In many cases, this is quite feasible, and is certainly required for RPL. However, generic tools might need supplementary contextualization for specific situations. For example:

1. Each equipment manufacturer might require different procedures to operate equivalent piece of equipment.
2. In music, the specific criteria are different for each of the following. In some cases, it might be ideal to have specific tools for each:
1. voice and each different instrument,
2. each genre (jazz, classical, rock, pop),
3. particular items assessed (e.g. songs).

 

Projects and tasks

Assessment tools writers create interesting and challenging projects and tasks for taught students.

The question is "How do they address unit requirements?"

• The smallest unit is the element of competency, but good projects usually cover a whole unit, and sometimes a whole cluster of units.
• Whatever level, projects and tasks need be assessable in terms of all criteria. The result would be Not Yet Competent if students are assessed as not meeting all criteria, even if some criteria were not applicable. Put another way, the tool would be invalid because it was inappropriate for the criteria.

If students do a large project over a longer period of time, they only need to do it once to cover a variety of contexts. If a task is small, students must do it at least twice in different ways to cover a suitable range of contexts.

ASQA auditors are currently very picky that instructions for tasks should be very clear on what students are expected to do, but should not be a restatement of the unit requirements.

 

RPL references

RPL assessors often need to gather references from the students’ supervisors or peers.

Referees tend to agree to give a reference, but won’t bother with a form that is too long and complex, for example, a form with all elements and criteria for all units in a qualification. The solution is to create a form that has units and elements, but not criteria. In some cases, an interview works better than loading people with extra paperwork. It is the assessor's role see how well the referee's responses meet the performance criteria. It might not matter if some performance criteria are N/a, as long as there are enough other kinds of evidence.

 

What should be in an Assessment Kit?

Taught students and RPL students have slightly different needs. In RPL, the ideal is to be able to give the student the kit with all they need, other than the mechanics of enrollment and payment. Taught students get some information as part of the admission process or as ongoing information during the course. This includes information on how to get help, right of appeal, allowable adjustments and LLN (language, literacy, and numeracy) requirements.

Information for all students

1. Job description: "Who is this kit designed for?"
2. The titles and codes of the qualification and all its units
3. A statement indicating the kind of assessment, normally summative. You can't expect students to know the word "summative," so you should say it more clearly. (Other kinds of asessment are, for example, formative and diagnostic.)
4. Requirements: elements and criteria
5. Forms (depending on the kind of evidence to be collected)
1. Ist kind of evidence, e.g. observation
2. 2nd kind of evidence, e.g. portfolio
3. 3rd kind of evidence, e.g. references
4. Questions for required knowledge
5. Student feedback

For instructors

1. Instructions
2. A reliability guide. This may be one or more of the following:
   • An answer guide to questions
   • A statement of competent performance (Don't just refer to the whole textbook)
   • Elements and performance criteria rewritten to be more specific
   • Instructions to use a co-assessor
   • Instructions to have another assessor go over the assessment and check the evidence
   • examples of performance at varying levels, especially borderline pass, borderline fail
3. A signoff sheet (In an LMS, it is usually electronic.) It should also have spaces for:
   • Feedback to the student
   • Feedback for review of the assessment tools and processes

Compliance records

1. References to instructional resources (taught students only)
2. Minutes of industry consultation meetings
3. Mapping to unit requirements (included in the above as it occurs)
4. Sufficiency: Normally at least two items of evidence for each element, sometimes more, sometimes only one.
5. Added later by the person who checks the tool: Compliance check (principles of assessment, rules of evidence, etc.)

RPL Assessment

1. Self-assessment: "Is this course right for you?"
2. About this institution: name, RTO status, website, etc.
3. What is RPL and how does it work?
4. How to get help, right of appeal
5. A statement of language, literacy, and numeracy requirements
6. Allowable adjustments
7. If it is a portfolio, instructions on how to present it.
8. Forms
1. About you: Tell us about yourself
2. "Your reflections on the RPL process"
3. Authentications

 

Title

Content 15

 

Title

Content 16

 

Title

Content 17

 

Title

Content 18

 

Title

Content 19

 

Title

Content 20