The method for risk-based improvement planning for online delivery proceeds from diagnosis and ownership to effectiveness testing, residual risk and evidence of sustained effect.
In examining risk-based improvement planning for online delivery, its relevance to the matter should be assessed against the affected jurisdiction, learner population and form of provision.
For online delivery, implementation should be organised around a decision that can be tested.
Application to risk-based improvement planning for online delivery
When examining online delivery, a change in delivery mode should not weaken the defined learning outcomes, learner protection, accessibility or reliability of assessment.
For online delivery, materiality should be judged by the possible effect on learning, safety, rights, recognition, public resources and the reliability of a consequential decision. The decision record for online delivery should distinguish the scope supported by evidence from any scope that remains unresolved.
A narrow control over risk-based improvement planning for online delivery may create false assurance. In the present context, supplier dependency without continuity controls, reduced opportunities for timely support and assessment methods that do not support valid judgements may produce acceptable aggregate reporting while individual learners remain exposed to material disadvantage. When examining online delivery, the test should deliberately include exceptions and cases in which the expected outcome was not achieved.
Assurance of the corrective action should draw on more than one form of evidence. Useful records include supplier performance and exit arrangements, teacher capability and workload information, learner access and participation information, accessibility and usability testing, and assessment validity and integrity reviews. For decisions concerning online delivery, evidence of effectiveness should represent the declared scope, including adverse and exceptional cases.
Controls for risk-based improvement planning for online delivery
Implementation of online delivery can be tested without imposing unnecessary reporting. The method for the matter is to define escalation thresholds before reviewing cases, consider severity, reach, duration, recurrence and detectability, and record the reason for the final classification.
A decision to close improvement work on online delivery should be made by a person with authority and sufficient independence from implementation.
The assurance record for the corrective action should retain the date of the evidence, the source responsible for it, the scope examined and the version of any instrument or definition applied. Across the defined scope, a later reviewer should be able to identify whether the condition changed or the evidential record was corrected. For online delivery, the evidential history should preserve conclusions that were operative when a material decision was made.
Review of risk-based improvement planning for online delivery
Care is required in drawing conclusions about online delivery.
Accountability for online delivery should follow decision-making authority.
For online delivery, a clear objective, proportionate evidential basis and account of affected learners are required. The decision record for online delivery should state the unsupported element and the further work required.