This is one of a series of articles available at www.nvqweb.com that aim to develop understanding of NVQs and their assessment.
All of us must share the desire to work in successful NVQ provision. One where most people can be expected to achieve their qualification (or units). However there can be times where the reality of NVQs in Care has been the opposite, certainly in terms of reported poor retention and achievement.
This edition of NVQ Assess seeks to highlights some of the factors that can make NVQ Assessment successful and then asks readers to reflect on how well their own assessment practice takes account of these factors.
It can be all to easy to explain away poor performance as being out of our hands. For example staff leaving (to work in the new supermarket?), poor funding of care, poor working conditions, badly written and confusing NVQ standards etc. These are all real factors that affect what we do and we do need to take these into account. However there is also the consideration that many NVQ programmes are actually very successful despite of these difficulties.
Let us therefore consider some of the factors that are perhaps critical to success and that we have more control over. The following table lists and discusses some of my own ideas. You may have some others you could add to this list.
Assessor/Verifier's who are experienced and occupationally competent: Skilled assessors and verifiers will often be able to achieve consistently strong results even when other factors are absent. We all have to learn somewhere and when novice or unqualified assessors/verifiers are in place they should be getting strong support from someone with this level of expertise.
The candidate has personal reasons for wanting the qualification: Candidates who have no personal stake in the NVQ often struggle with their own enthusiasm.
Early and regular achievement through award: Lets face it, what motivates like success? Having a unit signed off or having evidence collected and approved will boost confidence and enthusiasm everytime. Especially important for a new candidate. Action planning using SMART goals can support this sense of achievement especially in the early days where progess can be slow.
Candidates have previous experience and achievement in education: prominent feature in care is that many candidates have not been in education for a log time and that many did not have a very satisfying time when they were there last. Pre-NVQ programmes can make a big difference here.
Programme design and delivery is closely matched to candidate and workplace need: Many people see the differences between NVQ programmes as a problem. In fact the ability for NVQs to be flexible is a real strength when meeting the individual needs of candidates and the workplace.
Sufficient time: The workplace is hectic and unpredictable. Staff often have busy life's outside of work. Good monitoring of time being spent on the programme and close
Correct choice of award and unit: Ever noticed how fast NVQ becomes when it is easy to collect evidence? Also when the level of the qualifications matches the learner? Strong advice, guidance, selection, initial assessment and induction are all part of this.
Support from workplace management: Commitment and support from management make things happen.
Easy to use learning and assessment materials: We have enough hassle with understanding the NVQ and Occupational standards without this being made more difficult by poorly designed forms and support materials.
Access to support: Most centres have support systems down on paper. But are these systems really used by the people who are at most need?
Clear systems are in place for action planning and review: Isn't it nice to know where we are at, where we are going, how we are going to do it and when?
Strong focus on candidate progress by the NVQ Assessment Centre: Centres should always have a close eye on candidate progress. This allows early warning of problems and ensures accountability of everyone involved. No NVQ programme is perfect, at least not all of the time. The same goes for those of us that work in NVQ. So it is not unusual to have many of these factors operating below expectations at anyone time. In fact NVQ will often continue to be successful even where many of these factors have gone critical. However there comes a point where, even with the best will in the world, the difficulties will outweigh the positives. This may not happen overnight and there may be a gradual process of decline. Where this is the case you will usually see a clear weakening of candidate performance and the more established this becomes the harder it can be to reverse.
Using the above success factors now think about and question your own, and your centres, assessment practice. Does it encourage and reward success, or just the opposite?
Don't forget the object of this exercise is not to be perfect especially if you are just starting off as a new assessor or verifier. In fact given the environment that we work in if you are getting it mostly right then you deserve a very large pat on the back.
However most of us may see some ideas for areas of development. For example one significant change I made in my own practice was when I started agreeing and reviewing timed action plans for specific achievement with the candidate. I actually felt very mean setting these targets, after all isn't the pace of the NVQ supposed to be candidate led. But suddenly I found the candidates working to meet these dates and getting very motivated about it indeed. Not only were the candidates more motivated but they were also empowered to give me grief if they were not getting enough support to meet their deadlines.
Of course you will note that some of the factors in the table above are firmly within the control of your Assessment Centre. In this case the action you may need to take is letting the centre know about your ideas and suggestions for centre development. This may be through direct contact or by attending assessment meetings. You may of course be in a position of making decisions at that level. Take the example of an assessor who is aware that the candidates could be doing units better suited to their job. Discussion with the centre should be able to resolve this both for the current and future candidates and therefore increase the likelihood of success.
Another important partner in managing some of the above factors is the workplace and or employer. In many centres the assessor is often the key liaison between the employer and the NVQ Assessment Centre. This places the assessor in a very powerful position in their ability to connect all of those involved in the assessment process. For example where there are problems with time and poor progression the assessor is in a position to bring the workplace manager into the circle and ask for their assisitance.
There is of course the need to balance easy achievement with the robustness of the qualification. What we must not do in the search for improved achievement is lower the evidence requirements below what is needed to prove competence against the national standards. There will always be a broad band of what is acceptable and this often changes with time. However at the end of the day assessors and verifiers must be happy that they can justify their practice to verification and that the people they assess as competent are exactly that. Quality not quantity.
The factors that can impact on successful NVQ are many and varied. By ensuring these factors are taken into account in our own practice and through liasing with our Centre and the workplace we can make a real difference to the achievement of candidates.
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