CynicalScouter

Yeah, I get the impression from what's already been done that this isn't a question of either path. They've committed to a DEI merit badge; if they outright fail to produce a DEI merit badge it will be a disaster (path 1). Junking Cit World could have been an option, but they already committed to keeping it. I could be wrong, but the question is on the MB's content, not structural changes.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Swimming and Camping emphasize skills associated with keeping you safe, warm, and alive. Citizenship and Personal Management are about higher level functions. They may never camp or swim the day after the EBOR. They will, however, be a part community, nation, and world the rest of their lives. They will have to engage in personal management (to one extent or another).

This is what has me curious and concerned not just for your sake but in general. It sounds as if the scouters in your district are trying to make you and other scouts fundraise. First, National explicitly frowns on this. https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2014/07/21/crowd-funding-sites-eagle-project-fundraising/ Second, where's the money going? Are units using this to supplement their coffers?

Good. Those who oppose the mere existence of this badge will cheer the delay. Those who want it done right will cheer that this was rushed and will now be properly vetted.

Merit badges from development to implementation I understand take YEARS. This was rammed and jammed in 4 months. Moreover, the same source that kicked me that also told me that the requirements I posted earlier will now be sent to both social justice/MLB groups AND law enforcement groups for them to vet.

I cannot imagine they will rescind it; THAT would look horrible. "Yes, we publicly committed to a DEI merit badge, but now we aren't." I suspect it will be retooled, revised, and put in place end of 2021.

Through unofficial channels.

Right. If you look at JTE the portions that are focused on the Committee side are pretty good. Planning and Budget We should have an approved plan and budget? We should meet at least 6 times a year? (My current troop the committee hadn't met in YEARS; the SM and CC simply met once a month and that was that). Recruitment Committee should be out there banging the drum on this. You don't need a new parent coordinator or whatever, but the committee can take the burden OFF the SM by reaching out adult to adult to the Pack leaders in the area, for example. And so on.

And if the end result is that the people most effected or disproportionately affected are minorities, still not racism?

https://i9peu1ikn3a16vg4e45rqi17-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Jan-2021-Hot-Topic-New-Charter-Renewal-Options.pdf

Yes. UK has a World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) member in Girlguiding UK.

The neuroscientists tell us the prefrontal cortex is still developing until 25. Johnson, S. B., Blum, R. W., & Giedd, J. N. (2009). Adolescent Maturity and the Brain: The Promise and Pitfalls of Neuroscience Research in Adolescent Health Policy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45(3), 216-221. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.05.016 Sharma, S., Arain, Mathur, Rais, Nel, Sandhu, . . . Johal. (2013). Maturation of the adolescent brain. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 449. doi:10.2147/ndt.s39776

Yes, and in the modern state of legal liability and supervision, the days of yore when you could let 30 scouts out alone in the back country are gone. I don't blame National for that.

Right, I don't fully understand the complaint against JTE OTHER THAN it's existence. In other words, if you don't think there should be any performance metrics AT ALL for units, fine. I get that. "You can't quantify what we do." That's an argument I guess. BUT if you accept the premise that there should be unit metrics, I have a hard time seeing what is wrong with the ones National picked. W.E. Deming is alleged to have said "What gets measured gets done." Drucker's version was "What gets measured gets managed." Both get to the same point; performance is a matter of measurement. And if we agree performance matters and that while there are some amorphous, nebulous things (What is the metric for "Scout Spirit"?) some things are quantifiable.

What's the distinction between the two in your mind? Systemic vs. pervasive? Since the draft merit badge requirements had a requirement that scouts define these terms, I'm curious what the distinction is?

Bronze Level Have an annual program plan and budget adopted by the troop committee. Silver Level Achieve Bronze, plus troop conducts a planning meeting involving youth leaders for the following program year. Gold Level Achieve Silver, plus troop committee meets at least six times during the year to review program plans and finances. Bronze Level Have a membership growth plan that includes a recruit-ment activity or use a personalized invitation method and have current pin on beascout.org. Silver Level Achieve Bronze, and either increase youth members or have at least 25 members. Gold Level Achieve Silver, and either increase youth members by 5% or have at least 35 members. Bronze Level Reregister 75% of eligible members. Silver Level Reregister 80% of eligible members. Gold Level Reregister 85% of eligible members. Bronze Level With a pack or Webelos den, hold two joint activities (live or virtual). Silver Level Achieve Bronze, plus recruit two Webelos Scouts. Gold Level Achieve Bronze, plus provide at least one den chief to a pack and recruit five Webelos Scouts. Bronze Level 40% of Scouts advance one rank during the year. Silver Level 50% of Scouts advance one rank during the year. Gold Level 60% of Scouts advance one rank during the year. Bronze Level Conduct four short-term overnight campouts. Silver Level Conduct seven short-term overnight campouts. Gold Level Conduct nine short-term overnight campouts. Bronze Level The troop participates in a long-term camp. Silver Level 60% of Scouts attend a long-term camp. Gold Level 70% of Scouts attend a long-term camp. Bronze Level Participate in three service projects and enter the hours on the JTE website. Silver Level Participate in four service projects and enter the hours on the JTE website. Gold Level Participate in five service projects and enter the hours on the JTE website. Bronze Level The troop has patrols, and each has a patrol leader. There is an SPL, if more than one patrol. The PLC meets at least four times a year. Silver Level Achieve Bronze, plus PLC meets at least six times. The troop conducts patrol leader training. Gold Level Achieve Silver, plus PLC meets at least ten times. At least one Scout has attended an advanced training course, such as NYLT or Order of the Arrow Conference. Bronze Level Have at least one registered assistant Scoutmaster. Silver Level Achieve Bronze, plus the troop holds two courts of honor, where troop plans are reviewed with parents. Gold Level Achieve Bronze, plus the troop holds three courts of honor, where troop plans are reviewed with parents. Bronze Level Scoutmaster or an assistant Scoutmaster has completed position-specific training. Silver Level Achieve Bronze, plus the Scoutmaster and 60% of assistants have completed position-specific training or, if new, will complete within three months of joining. Gold Level Achieve Silver, plus two-thirds of active committee members have completed position-specific training and at least one person has attended an advanced training course involving a total of at least five days.

No, I got it. I am now convinced. There's no racism. African Americans only have that as a "belief". It isn't true! Fake news!

Since there was a recent influx of JTE criticism I thought I'd revive this. Just as a reminder/starting point, this is the JTE scorecard for Troops for 2021 EDIT: I can't format it to work, here's the link https://www.scouting.org/awards/journey-to-excellence/unit/ Journey to Excellence uses a balanced approach to measure performance. It guides program planning before the year begins, monitors activities for continuous improvement during the year, and recognizes performance at the end of the year. In planning your strategy, use actual numbers from the previous year to guide your performance improvement goal planning. The period for measuring performance will be the calendar year. Planning and Budget Measures 1 The troop has a program plan and budget that is reviewed at all troop committee meetings, and the troop follows BSA policies relating to fundraising and fiscal management as found on the Unit Money-Earning Application form and any other publication that the council has developed for fundraising and fiscal management. A meeting is held with youth leaders where they are involved in developing the plan for the next program year. The troop's program plan should be shared with the unit commissioner. Separate troops for males and females under the same chartered organization may have a shared unit committee. Committee meetings may be held remotely. Membership Measures 2 The troop has a growth plan to serve the diversity of our community and conducts a formal recruiting event. On December 31, 2021, the troop has an increase in the number of youth members as compared to the number registered on December 31, 2020. A membership growth plan template can be found at www.scouting.org/membership. The troop has an up-to-date pin on the "Be a Scout" website. Given current challenges, holding formal recruiting events may not be possible. Bronze may be achieved by developing and implementing a recruiting plan involving direct personal invitations for youth to join. 3 Number of youth members on the most recent charter renewal (A) divided by the number of youth registered at the end of the prior charter year (B) minus any age-outs (C). Total = (A) / (B-C). Age-outs are youth who are too old to reregister as Scouts. If the troop has a December charter, use the one expiring on December 31, 2020; otherwise use the one expiring during 2021. 4 Hold at least two activities with a pack or Webelos den, and recruit new Webelos Scouts into the troop. Den chiefs are provided to one or more Cub Scout dens. Virtual gatherings are acceptable. Program Measures 5 Total number of Scouts advancing at least one rank ( Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, Eagle) during the calendar year (A), divided by the number of youth registered at the end of the year (B). Advancement = (A) / (B). The troop is encouraged to use Scoutbook to track each individual's advancements. 6 Conduct short-term (at least one overnight) campouts throughout the year. 7 Number of Scouts who attend any in-council or out-of-council long-term summer camp (of at least five nights), high-adventure experience, or jamboree, or serve on camp staff within the past year, divided by the Scout membership on June 30, 2021. Youth attending long-term specialty camps such as NYLT or STEM are also counted. Alternatives that spread the camping nights over multiple experiences may be included. Virtual alternatives are acceptable. These include virtual camping programs and other remote activities. 8 The troop participates in service projects during the year and enters them on the Service Hours website or through Scoutbook. The projects may be completed as joint projects with other organizations. At least one project must benefit the chartered organization. Service projects may include home-centered efforts providing they serve others outside the home. 9 The troop is separated into patrols and each patrol has an elected patrol leader. If the troop has more than one patrol, there is an elected senior patrol leader. If the troop has more than one patrol, the PLC meets at least four times each year. The troop holds patrol leader training each year, and youth have the opportunity to participate in advanced training. PLC meetings may be held remotely. Volunteer Leadership Measures 10 The troop has a Scoutmaster, an assistant, and a committee of at least three members. Ideally, the chartered organization representative should not be dual registered as one of the committee members. Separate troops for males and females under the same chartered organization may have a shared unit committee. The troop conducts courts of honor where youth are recognized and program plans are shared with parents. Courts of honors may be done remotely. 11 All leaders have completed youth protection training. Scoutmaster and 60% of the assistants have completed position-specific training or, if new, will complete within three months of joining. Two-thirds of active committee members (including chartered organization representative) have completed position-specific training. For Gold, one leader must have attended an advanced training course involving a total of 5 days or more, such as Wood Badge, Summit or Philmont Training Center, at some point in their Scouting tenure. Scoring the troop's performance: To determine the troop's performance level, you will use the above information to determine the points earned for each of the 11 criteria and then add those individual point scores to determine a composite score. Count only the highest point total achieved in any one criterion. Bronze level requires earning at least 525 points in at least 7 criteria, Silver level requires earning points in at least 8 criteria and 750 points, and Gold level requires earning points in at least 8 criteria, meeting at least bronze standards in either short-term or long-term camping, and earning at least 1,000 total points.

Can I suggest a JTE thread, or reviving the dormant one?

Yep. And any peer reviewed research that shows racism in hiring exist is fake news. Made up. Hoax. Got it. No, I'm clear on your concept. African Americans and others only "believe" there is racism. There's no racism! Fake news! Hoax!

I see, so you cannot actually show a methodological flaw in that paper, you throw up a news article about...other papers that are not even in the same field (medical/bio-med). Ok then. You convinced me. Racism doesn't exist. All a hoax. Fake news!

Really? So, where's the methodological flaw? These are peer reviewed pubs. You know there's a flaw? Cough it up. As I said: 1600 resumes is a perfectly acceptable sample size where Population = 328,200,000 (US), Confidence Level = 95% and Confidence Interval = 3 . And the idea that since the research as 18 years ago therefore everything's just ducky now and racism doesn't exist? Any research for that No? Ok then.

You really think things have changed THAT much that African American sounding name resumes get the same treatment as White? Seriously? As for the "100 resumes", it was 1600 which in fact is a good sample where Population = 328,200,000 (US), Confidence Level = 95% and Confidence Interval = 3

I provided the peer reviewed studies as an edit to the original post. There is more than ample evidence that ANY indication that the applicant for a job is African American, even if just their NAME, leads to fewer interview call backs.

Which is a ringing endorsement for the notion that systemic racism still exists. Of course, research has shown that just having an African-American sounding NAME or other indicator that the person is an African American leads to fewer job interviews. Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2003). Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination. doi:10.3386/w9873 See also Kang, S. K., Decelles, K. A., Tilcsik, A., & Jun, S. (2016). Whitened Résumés. Administrative Science Quarterly, 61(3), 469-502. doi:10.1177/0001839216639577 http://www-2.rotman.utoronto.ca/facbios/file/Whitening MS R2 Accepted.pdf