• This is a general management responsibility. The duties and responsibilities are to interface with the scoutmaster, and to assure the high quality of the Advancement instruction, such as planning, organizing, communications, instructional/ presentation quality, reporting and documentation. This Instructional Chair uses the Class Instructors and Advancement ASMs to accomplish the work.

• The Instructional Chair also coordinates with Senior Leadership concerning Seniors assigned to Class Instructors. He also has the responsibility to make sure the Class Instructors provide Seniors with adequate guidance, direction, preparation time and oversight.

• Regularly discuss with the SM attendance or Timeline adherence problems.

The Advancement ASM is responsible for the following documentation and reporting:

• Collection and documentation of all MB Blue Cards.

• Maintaining the Advancement history for each Scout in the Troop.

• Early Warning System; Advising the Instructional Chair and SM of attendance, Timeline or Service Hour deficiencies.

• Obtaining the Advancement Ranks and MB to be issued at the Courts of Honor; packaging the awards for each C of H.

• Maintaining the required District reporting.

• Coordinating with Administration and Treasurer for the annual Troop re-registration.

• Responsible for managing the Class Instruction using 4th year Seniors as instructors (Scout lead Troop).

• The Class Instructors are the backbone of the Advancement Program. Their responsibility is to own the quality and timeliness of the instruction to assure the Timeline is effectively met. However, the Class Instructor role is that of mentoring Seniors to conduct the actual instruction to further promote the Scout Lead Troop concept. There are 3 or 4 Class Instructors for each Scout year e.g. 1st Yr., 2nd Yr. & 3rd Yr. (the “Class”).

• In May or June each year, the New Scout ASM recommends 3 or 4 New Scout ASMs to be Class Instructors for the upcoming 1st Year Class. Their responsibility is to work with the Instructional Chair and Senior Leadership to run the Class Advancement program, as set out in the Timeline. The Class Instructors stay with their Class throughout the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Year Advancement programs, until all twelve MBs and Life Rank are earned. Other duties include overseeing Seniors, taking weekly attendance, and assuring Blue Cards are completed and turned in, regularly.

• For any Scout who does fall behind the Timeline, the Class Instructor is responsible for devising a specific plan in order for the Scout and his parents to catch up with extra independent efforts. The SM must be kept informed about these efforts to determine if any further intervention is required.

• Each set of Class Instructors, in conjunction with Senior Scouts, develops or refines a “lesson plan” for teaching the required Advancement and MB (the “Plan”). to the next set of Class Instructors. The Plan should be broken down into teaching segments spread over the number of Advancement sessions involved for any particular activity. The Plan gives structure to the instruction, provides direction to the Senior’s, and schedules the needed preparation time. Each Plan should be documented electronically and “passed on” to the next set of Class Instructors coming along.

• An effective way for Class ASMs to handle the work load is to solicit assistance from other ASMs who have Scouts in a particular class. They may have some or all of the duties for any given Advancement segment. However the Class Instructors retains overall responsibility for the program.

• Senior Leadership assigns Seniors, on a rotating basis, to each set of Class Instructors. The Class Instructors are responsible for the Seniors being properly prepared to teach the class (Scout Lead Troop). The Class Instructors provides direction to and oversight of, the Seniors to teach the Advancement or MB during each Troop Meeting and Campout session. When the instruction is complete, Seniors instructs the Scouts to complete MB Blue Cards, which then need to be signed by the MB Counselor and given to the Advancement ASM prior to the Court of Honor (C of H) cut off date (usually the Troop Meeting prior to the C of H).

• When a set of Seniors complete a particular Advancement segment or MB, they rotate to run other Troop activities, until their next Advancement rotation. Then Senior Leadership assigns a new set of Seniors to each Class ASM for the next Advancement segment or MB.

• At the beginning of each segment, a Senior and Class Instructor prepares a Class Roster for each Advancement Class, for recording attendance for at all sessions. Attendance results are turned in to the Advancement ASM, and a copy of the 3rd Year’s attendance goes to Patrol Leadership. Any attendance problems are to be reported to the Instructional Chair with copies to Patrol Leadership.

• Tips for instructing:

  • Let the scouts ask questions. Every few minutes do this so the scouts are engaged.

  • Share your experiences. Real life is more interesting than a book.

  • Guage your audience. If they are restless—-have them stand up for a quick stretch.

  • Set your expectations and then follow through with them.