An assessment tool is more than a test

Everything starts with a timeline

One line. On the left is where the learner starts. On the right is where they're competent: they know their stuff.

Every part of the assessment happens somewhere on this line.

Training, then balance of training

Somewhere in the middle there's a milestone. It's where the learner goes from training into what's called balance of training.

Training is under direct or close supervision. You're watching them, you're beside them, you're training them up to do it themselves for the first time. Once they meet the benchmark for the first time, they move into balance of training, where supervision drops from close to minimal.

In the roomCheck it lands: is that accurate for everyone so far?

Some type of knowledge test

During training the learner does some type of knowledge test, like a theory assessment.

Then a performance observation

Closer to the transition, they do some type of performance test. Call it an observation. The assessor watches them do the job against the benchmark.

Some type of document

In between, put down some type of document. Maybe it's a personal risk assessment, like a Take 5.

Some type of inspection

And some type of inspection. Call it a prestart.

That's pretty much the process. They do their knowledge test, they learn about these things, then they do a performance observation. Call this one number one.

The move to minimal supervision is risk-based

The move from close supervision to minimal supervision is usually a risk-based decision, depending on the competency.

If it's just using a computer, you might only need to be in the building or on the phone. Operating a haul truck, you're in the dicky seat with them until they get here, then you need to be in the pit. Dealing with carcinogens, biologicals or radiation, you'd typically be within arm's reach the whole way through training. Follow the site's process.

In the roomAsk the room what close and minimal supervision look like on their own gear.

Live and breathe it in the real world

Once they complete the first observation and meet the benchmark, every check ticked off in black and white, they go and live and breathe it in the real world for a period of time.

Along the way there may be another personal risk assessment.

Another prestart

And another prestart inspection, filled out the same way.

Why there are two observations

Then the second performance observation. There are two because the benchmark says so: on more than one occasion.

Once they've done this, at some stage they're deemed competent, and on site, they're authorised.

The knowledge test is sufficient, not competent

At the end of the knowledge test there's a box to tick. What's the decision?

They're not competent at this stage. They're sufficient, or not yet sufficient. The test has been checked against the benchmark, which is the answer guide, and they've met it.

In the roomAsk: what's the decision made at the end of a knowledge test? Wait for the answer.

What turns a Take 5 into evidence?

A Take 5 filled out in training could go in the Take 5 bin. A prestart could go in the maintenance file. What makes either one assessment evidence? The answer isn't the staple.

Completed by the learner is half of it. The other half is the assessor: they've witnessed it, checked it meets the benchmark on that site, and put an initial or indicator on it to show the learner did it on the day. Then they tick it off as satisfactory.

Observation #1 is one of the most important in the process. It's a verification: the first one that lets them drive around by themselves. Watch them, tick off the boxes, sign it off as satisfactory. Then the second risk assessment and the second prestart: satisfactory, satisfactory.

In the roomAsk what makes it evidence, and don't accept the staple as the answer.

Down to the tail end

The second performance observation. Watch them, tick the boxes, sign it off. Satisfactory.

Every piece of evidence on the line is now in.

That's the assessment tool

We've been brainwashed by the staple. These are all separate documents. Put them together with a front cover report that has a tick box for each one, and that's called an assessment tool.

Nathan says the penny only dropped for him about three years ago, after seven years in the job.

In the roomDraw the box around everything, then write the title.

The pieces are formative

Each of the pieces inside the box is a formative assessment. The way to remember it: it's a form, a single unit of evidence.

The tool is summative

The assessment tool as a whole is a summative assessment. Once all the evidence is collected and it's all satisfactory, only then is the person deemed competent or not yet competent.

Competence only happens when it's all accumulated together and everything lines up as sufficient.

Your signature covers the whole box

Whoever signs and dates it is saying all of the evidence meets the benchmark. Bring the folder to an assessor with the skills, the qualification and the currency, and they could sign it off without ever meeting the learner. If the evidence is there and the process was followed, they can't not tick the box. Not ticking it would be unfair.

What they're responsible for is due diligence. If someone else ticked things off dodgily and it looks right in the folder, that's on them. If the assessor can see it's dodgy, like a knowledge test with 24 of 25 answers wrong but signed off, and signs it anyway, that's on the assessor. The assessment has to stand up on its own merit: another assessor would tick it off every time.

Most of the time, you'll be the person doing the last observation and signing the tool. The last observation can go perfectly, but if the rest of the evidence is rubbish and there's an incident, that's on you. The assessment is the sum of all its parts.

In the roomAsk: if I sign this, which part am I responsible for?