Independent Review of the Validation of the Foundation Skills Assessment Tool

Project Details

The Assessment Research Centre (ARC) acted as a consultant to Education Services Australia to provide technical expertise to independently review the validation of the Foundation Skills Assessment Tool (‘FSAT’) for the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training. FSAT is an Australian government interactive online tool designed to identify and measure an individual’s foundation skill in learning, reading, writing, oral communication and numeracy as well as non-technical skills, knowledge and understandings that underpin successful participation in work. It was available for free use by trainers and educators such as registered training organisations (RTOs) and senior secondary schools (for year 11 and 12 students studying vocationally oriented programs). The Centre provided technical expertise in psychometrics and assessment to review the validation of the tool, the relevance and usefulness of the tool and recommendations on future directions. A final project report was submitted to the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training.

Researchers

• Nick Weideman, Education Services Australia - Project Director
• Paul Rochfort, Education Services Australia - Project Manager
• Dr Cuc Nguyen, ARC - Psychometric Lead
• Dr Ruth Schubert, Independent consultant - VET Lead
• Associate Professor Shelley Gillis, MGSE - Advisor
• Professor Barry McGaw, MGSE - Advisor