Is there any way to track when a scout last advanced? For the purposes of making sure we are helping them make progress?
Ideally, have an advancement report that shows # scouts advanced YTD.
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@jwstl - seems like this is a Senior Patrol or Patrol leader issue and not an adult issue
You can sorta get there for a troop using the Scout’s BSA Recognition Report in Scoutbook. I assume there’s something analogous for other unit types.
ETA:
Fair enough, but not all units have “paper” tracking (beyond individual handbooks), so the SPL/PL may not have a ready-reference beyond what an adult can pull for them in terms of records from Scoutbook. Of course, I would probably structure it as only providing the report to the SPL/PL when requested, or according to a schedule that the youth leader coordinates with the relevant scouter.
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It is a JTE item as well. Something like did 50% or 80% advance one rank in the last year. Items like this are the holy grail of automatic JTE completion.
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@Matt.Johnson - indeed and the advancement of scouts should in theory happen within the patrols. Without patrols there is no troop. This is the grand failure of the BSA too much focus on adults and their silver cockroach and gold rat to even begin tk run a scout program.
@Stephen_Hornak Good thought in perfect world. My son joined his troop after covid. The troop was pretty lean before covid,… now it really doesn’t have a depth of kids to operate in full patrol method. We have to do what we have to do to get it rolling again.
@Matt.Johnson Thanks! I was not aware of the JTE at all,… but that’s exactly what I was trying to present to the committee: A way to see if we were successful as a troop.
@CharleyHamilton The BSA recognition report should work. Might be able to automate via CSV export to get a dashboard that corresponds to the JTE framework.
Thanks for the feedback!
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@jwstl - i would recommend downloading the JTE workbook or spreadsheets which are actually better as yiu can enter items and se where you stand. Certainly it is a good measure of performance but even gold level units have issues.
My best advice is if the scouts are enjoying the program, the parents are in some way involved and us senior citizens are not injured then its a win
And advancement is only one of the methods of scouting
@jwstl - you may also want to muc, around in rebort builder as it may get you something to work with as far as where the scouts are with advancement etc.
Thanks.
Agree that there is more to scouts than advancement. That was my question in the forum post, but that isn’t the only thing I am wanting to look at. The JTE framework should work for what I need. Our standards/expectations were lowered during covid,… the JTE framework will at least give us a fresh perspective of a “gold” star troop.
The one thing I don’t see on that JTE framework is some measure of scout participation/attendance (aka engagement) in the program. JTE has goals for summer camp participation, but not for any other program activities? To me, participation is one of the most important measures. We had extremely low participation at our OCT campout (5 scouts) and also at the NOV Scouting for Food,… which is what triggered me to think about measuring our success/health as a troop. Low Participation = Unhealthy Troop.
@jwstl - the task at hand would be to determine what drives attendance or the lack thereof. I certainly welcome any attendance as it is better than none.
@jwstl It depends on what you are trying to do.
If you want to know which Scouts have advanced this year (for Journey to Excellence purposes), then one option would be to use the Scouts BSA Recognition Report. Set the start date to 1/1 (or whatever date you want to use as your start date) and be sure to check the box next to “Include Awarded Within Date Range”. You will want to sort by “Award Type” or “Award Name” (either sort option should work for this purpose). Export to a csv file, and you can then sort the Scouts by name.
If you want to track when a Scout last advanced, you can create a report using Report Builder Manager:
- Select your Scout(s)
- Under Settings you can choose:
Show Current Rank
Show Current Rank Date - You can also choose options such as:
Abbreviate Last Names
Show DOB or Show Age
Auto-Select New Scouts According to “All” Checkboxes (members of unit / patrol)
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@jwstl - you may also want to look here as the plans note advancement opportunities
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@Stephen_Hornak @jwstl
I agree. Remember Journey to Excellence (JTE) is a planning tool.
2022-12-01-A
To Stephen_Hornak: “This is the grand failure of the BSA too much focus on adults and their silver cockroach and gold rat to even begin tk run a scout program.”
WOW. What a bitter, snarkey response. If you feel that way about Scouting, why are you in it?
The task at hand is to make sure everyone in troop leadership is on the same page. I don’t think they realize how unhealthy our troop has become. Therefore, I was looking to JTE metrics as a way to factually represent all aspects of what we are doing as a troop so that we can all agree whether or not there is a problem,… and if so,… start looking at root cause and action plan to improve.
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Thanks all for the feedback! More than answered my original question. Appreciate it!
@jwstl - good luck on your effort. But certainly you have a foundational guide to make improvements. I would caution against the hope of a rapid turnaround. Progress is often mixed with failures so set some goals with the youth and work toward them with positive reinforcement.
While advancement does occur in the patrol, at least up to First Class, an adult leader should be monitoring to make sure it is happening. How else can you ensure that every youth has an opportunity to advance. The PL can mark that a skill was taught but it is still up to the SM to approve. Advancement is only one method but we cannot ignore any of the methods.
The SM can allow the PL to approve via a paper book signature. So the SM need not be the final approval. The software hasn’t caught up with this concept that has been in place for at least 50 years. Again, if the SM sets direction for Scouts to sign off. In our troop, as long as you have the rank above the rank, you can sign off. So a First Class Scout can sign off a Tenderfoot requirement. Scoutbook software doesn’t yet allow this.
Never do for a Scout what they can do for themselves. The PL can have those conversations with their Paltrow members and can represent the patrol when asked by a SPL, SM, or ASM.
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