BSA advancement policy -- manuals, reference

[klflintoff]

I've seen some major disagreements about advancement policy, usually the result of longstanding practices (and longstanding scouters) that turned out to be wrong, and contrary to BSA policy. Unproductive for scouting; hurtful for the scouts affected. I plan to purchase the manuals that set forth BSA policy on advancement, so I can read the policies myself. ("If all else fails, read the manual.")

 

Is there one or two manuals, available at the scout store, that makes official BSA policy clear? Defines purpose and scope of SM conference, addresses scout spirit, role of BOR, issues like "retesting vs. review", how a BOR is conducted and supervised, by whom; "active", and more.

 

Thanks.

[Eagle76]

I'm surprised someone hasn't posted this already; it's cited so frequently in these forums.

 

The first thing to get from your Scout Shop is:

Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures, 33088B

 

There are also some supplemental training modules for SM conferences and BOR's available on the National web site. Let's see if this works:

 

http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/supplemental/(This message has been edited by Eagle76)

[FScouter]

The Troop Committee Guidebook # 34505B has a chapter devoted to advancement, boards of review, and courts of honor.

 

The Scoutmaster Handbook # 33009C has a chapter on advancement, the Scoutmaster conference, boards of review, courts of honor, plus another chapter on awards and recognitions.

 

The latest revision of the Advancement Committee Polices and Procedures book is #33088D.

 

The Boy Scout Handbook tells boys what Scout Spirit is all about. Adults too would do well to know and understand this as well. See pages 47, 108, 164, and 170.

 

The supplemental training covering boards of review is excellent: http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/supplemental/18-625/index.html

as is the training for Scoutmaster conferences: http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/supplemental/18-629/index.html

 

Reinventions of the wheel are always full of flaws. Go with the tested and proven techniques found in the BSA publications. Every troop committee should have reference copies of these publications, and use them.

[John-in-KC]

There is also the current year edition of BSA Requirements ... #33215.

 

True story: A young man came to me to do Citizenship in the Nation. I asked him if he wanted to sit down and go over the requirements before the started work. He told me he was already done. Had an appointment with him. There was only one small problem: His Troop had a ca 1980 version of the pamphlet. The requirements look nothing

like the revision that took effect last year.

 

We were able to cross-map some work. I had a long, and majorly upset conversation with his SM. I also called the District Advancement Chairman.

 

Moral of the story: Keep the Troop Library current!!!!

[Beavah]

Hey klflintoff,

 

Da SM handbook, Troop committee handbook, and the District Advancement Committee Policies & procedures books are good places to start. As someone new, I agree, it's good to start with the books, eh?

 

With time, though, I hope you recognize that the above sources conflict with each other on some minor points, and that all are written to be deliberately ambiguous to some exent. That's because contrary to popular opinion, there isn't "one, best" way to do scouting. The materials reflect the different views of the Charter Org. members out there. And your role as a unit or district volunteer is to support and advance the (potentially different) goals, missions, and policies of the organization that owns the unit(s).

 

Differences between units on how they approach scouting methods like advancement typically aren't hurtful to kids or to scouting... quite the opposite! They allow us to reach more kids and more families than we would otherwise. Conflicts arise most often from communication failures, or "outsiders" who try to get another unit to do things the way their unit does things.

 

So don't expect the literature to define what "retesting" really means, what Scout Spirit really means, or even what level of skill is really required for a signoff. You have to stay mentally awake and decide what works best for your kids and your families, while advancing your CO's goals.

 

Happily, dat also means ya can't be replaced by standardized, centralized BSA distance learning websites and a standardized test, eh?

 

 

 

[John-in-KC]

Beavah,

 

While I agree with most of what you said, we (the various volunteers in units, Chartered Partners, and Districts) do have an obligation to stay current with the program and its requirements. True, there is more than one way to skin a cat, but using obsolete program material is a dis-service to the young men (and women, in Venturing's case) we work with.