Re: BOR HELP!-To Retest or Not To Retest
Bill Case (billcase@ROMULUS.NCSC.MIL)
Wed, 6 Dec 1995 19:34:35 -0500
On Wed, 6 Dec 1995, Don Tolin wrote:
> It is my understanding that Board of Reviews (not Eagle BOR'S) conducted by
> the troop committees are supposed to "review" and not "retest" the scout.
Don,
In my estimation, you'ev asked one of the most difficult
questions possible. I fully anticipate that answers will be streaming in
for at least a week on this. Having said this, I'll take a stab at it.
Retesting is not the job of the Board of Review. Rather, they
may be "spot checked" on some things. I've been a participant on a
number of Board's of Review and here are some observations. At the
lowest ranks, where skills are the focus of the advancement, I/we would
take one or two from the current rank and ask them to be performed (if
reasonable - no cooking before the Board of Review!) We also might touch
on one from each of the previous ranks to ensure that the skill was still
there. If the skill couldn't be performed, then it was certainly an
option to ask the Scout to return at another time. Notations were
usually made, carefully, in their Handbook to this effect for future
boards. For Scouts advancing to Star and Life, the questions may
touch on one or two of the more basic skills. Remember, these are
the ones the troop is relying on to teach those who have come
later. HOWEVER, remember that those of you who sit on the boards are
adults and those on the other side are youth, and for the lower ranks,
pretty young youth! ;->) I remember standing before my Second Class
Board of Review and even today it seemed as if they were a panel of
judges towering over me. That was perhaps forty years ago, but I still
remember that. I wasn't too happy to have to in front of them for First
Class and remember all the signalling and morse code requirements. My
point is to be kind with them. If they haven't done the work necessary
to advance, they'll know it in almost every case. I've asked Scouts if
they thought they had passed and in almost all instances, the sense of
the Scout was the same as the board's. Usually they erred on the
conservative side and thought they may not have done as wellas they
really had done.
Bottom line: yes, a Board of Review can fail someone. If that
happens, there should be a closely monitored plan through which the Scout
can be helped to achieve the next rank. Additionally, the mechanism
through which a Scout who wasn't ready to advance was allowed to come
before a Board of Review should be examined.
Bill Case NE-VI-28
THE Capitol District I used to be an Antelope ...
Baltimore Area Council District Vice-Chairman for Program
billcase@romulus.ncsc.mil
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