Jump to content

Number of Eagles in a Troop


Recommended Posts

Our troop just passed the 20 year mark about 2 years ago (I guess that would make us 22 now :)) We had 50 in 1999, and we are up to 75 now. Considering our first eagle was roungly 4-5 years into the troop's formation, that is roughly 18 years for 75 eagles (4 per year average). We actually usually have 1-2 a year, but we have had several cub scout dens over the last 7 years stay together all the way through boy scouts and make eagle together, giving us 7 or 8 in a single year, for about 3 years. That just sky rockted our numbers. Looking over our numbers in the past, I would say we have had roughly 300-400 plus boys in the troop in the past 20 years. So that would put us at somewhere around a 33 percent ratio of eagles. We have many who drop out every year, and we have shrunk in the past few years as those mega dens stopped staying together and making Eagle, but the number is holding true. We have a good program for all ages, which is what I think helps us hold our boys into the troop.

 

Last I checked, the Koshare troop out of La Junta had several hundred eagles as of 2000, but they are a huge troop...huge.

 

OldEagle

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

the 2% has become 4-6 %

 

Yah, and both of dose are bogus numbers, eh?

 

Da BSA reports the number of Eagle Scouts in a year divided by the total number of boys in scouting that year, which works out to around 5% these days. But the percentage of boys who join Boy Scouts who eventually earn Eagle is much higher.

 

Say you get 100 new boys each year, eh? And each year for one reason or another you lose 10 to moves out of town, fumes, etc. After six years, they either earn Eagle or don't, stay in or drop. Half earn eagle, half are Life for Life or whatever. Yah, yah, they really have 7 years, but this is just an example. So you've got:

 

1st Years 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

100 90 80 70 60 50

 

Total Scouts in Troop at any one time = 450

Total Eagles each year = 25

BSA-reported percentage of boys in program earning Eagle = 25/450 = 5.5%

Real percentage of boys who joined Boy Scouting who earned Eagle = 25/100 = 25%

 

Math, what a terrible thing to mind.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Beavah,

 

I posted a thread on this topic some time back. I hate hearing these statistics repeated at every Eagle ceremony, when they are so clearly bogus. Without knowing how many years the average boy stays with a troop, we can't calculate the real number. I suspect the average is lower than what you use in your example, but I'd still think the real number is 15-20%. And the thing that really irritates me is that the BSA should clearly know this number, but doesn't actually tell us, but instead perpetuates a myth. I do not find their number to be trustworthy. And it's on their web site at 4%. http://www.scouting.org/factsheets/02-516.html

 

Oak Tree

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...