Chapter 6 - Evaluation Instruments

The evaluation forms on the following pages are have been used successfully and are recommended for evaluating patrols during both staff development and during summer camp.

This chapter does not describe how to develop an evaluation plan. This and the concepts of evaluation can be found in Resources for Leadership, Chapter 16 - Evaluation.

What We Evaluate

A number of specific items are purposefully evaluated in White Stag:

• Each day's program, whether it's staff or candidate training.
• Each individual, the degree to which each is challenged, the level of contribution to the group, evidence of application of the eleven leadership competencies.
• Accomplishment of learning objectives.
• Completed year's program.
• Relativity of current program methods, organization, and so forth, to assessed training needs.
• Concepts of leadership, the degree to which White Stag is in tune with current theory and practice and its own principles and values.
• Personal growth.
• Campsite organization and cleanliness.

These items may be evaluated in a variety of ways each year. Essential to the design of the evaluation scheme every year is a description of what outcomes are desired from the evaluation, that is, "What do you want to know when you're finished?"

These purposes mandate the development of well-written objectives.

The objectives are the basis for the questions asked during evaluation, because they are the standards by which everything is measured. Because our objectives are constantly reevaluated, it is sometimes necessary for each year's program staff to modify the evaluation forms.

Individual Leadership Skills Evaluation

Place a check mark in the column most closely describing the individual.

Adventure Trail Evaluation

The Adventure Trail is traditionally used by Patrol Leader Development. It is a day-long series of hurdles designed to challenge the patrol and exercise a number of their leadership skills. The hurdles are usually organized in a round-robin fashion, giving each patrol a turn at each hurdle during the day.

A typical hurdle might be the "Nuclear Can", which is a #10 can full of rocks in an area about 30 feet in diameter. The patrol must use rope and an old inner tube to remove the can from the circle without coming within 30' of the can at any time. Patrol members use the rope to stretch the inner tube, like a giant rubber band, around the can, grabbing it, and moving it.

Another might be the "Coracle", in which patrols are to transport their patrol across a pond by using only a waterproof tarp and some brush. The usual solution is to build a small, rounded boat by stretching the waterproof material over a frame of brush.

See Adventure Trail Evaluation.

Group Membership Skills Evaluation

Use this form to evaluate candidate's participation as members of their patrol during the summer camp. It can also be used, if desired, during staff development to help the staff focus on their membership behavior.

See Group Membership Skills Evaluation.

Manager of Learning Session Evaluation

This form is used by the patrol to evaluate the manager of learning session. This helps the participants understand evaluation and gives the manager of learning effective and useful feedback about his technique. It can be quickly and easily completed each time the Patrol Leader/Counselor conducts a Teach/Learn session.

See Manager of Learning Session Evaluation.

Manager of Learning Discussion Checklist

This form is occasionally used by the manager of learning to assess his own instructional technique. It can also be used by an adult staff member to evaluate a manager of learning during a Teach/Learn session.

See Manager of Learning Discussion Checklist.

Competency Objective Evaluation

This form is useful during the Adventure Trail or whenever the patrol is challenged with a situation requiring use of a leadership competency. The information collected is useful during a follow-up Teach/Learn session to help the leaders-in-training improve their ability to apply the competency. See Competency Objective Evaluation.

Overall Objective Evaluation

Use this form to evaluate individual and group accomplishment of the named knowledge, skill, or attitude, including, for example, appearance, uniforming, and so forth. See Overall Objective Evaluation.

Patrol Campsite Evaluation

The campsite is one of the very few camp craft related areas which we pay some attention to in White Stag. Because the program is focused on leadership, we do not want to devote too much time to camping skills. But the manner in which a patrol establishes and maintains their patrol site speaks volumes about their togetherness as a group.

The form (Patrol Campsite Evaluation) and the evaluation schema shown below in Table 6-2 below has been continually used for some time by the phases, especially PLD, and is a tradition of many years' standing.

The points accumulated using this evaluation are used by the Patrol Counselor. In the morning ceremony area, each patrol has a patrol stave. Mounted on each stave is as painted white stags. Their relative height from the ground represents the patrol's success at achieving inspection standards.

The Green painted stag is lowest, red is medium, and white is highest. Each stag can be in one of three relative positions within its color range: low, medium and high. The entire Campsite Inspection Rating Plan is shown Table 6-2.

Each phase may choose to follow this scheme, modify it or adopt another. See Patrol Campsite Evaluation.

The Personal Leadership Growth Agreement

One particular component of the evaluation effort is the individual "Leadership Growth Agreement" (LGA, illustrated in Personal Leadership Growth Agreement). This is the learner's contract to action which he prepares himself, with the aid of a staff member. In Wood Badge, it's called the Ticket.

The desire is to motivate the learner to use his newly acquired skills, knowledge, and abilities in a helpful, productive way--primarily in his home unit.

The Leadership Growth Agreement concept was devised by Béla Bánáthy.

1. Leadership development cannot be perceived as a single training course or as a one-shot event, but must be a continuous sequence of closely chained and systematically organized learning and experience building opportunities.[1]
2. If we accept the premise that White Stag is not a "one-shot" event, then we must provide a means for application as part of our model.
3. The test of any leadership program is not, and never should be, the training situation itself, but its applied manifestation. There comes when the trainee has returned to his group and performs the leadership role...[2]
4. ...The leader-in-training is...required to engage in further self-development and self-evaluation. He must write a report on his leadership achievements.[3]

Individuals formulate operational and measurable objectives for the application of the newly-acquired competence in the back-home situation in and out of Scouting.[4]

While Bánáthy did not use the exact term, "Leadership Growth Agreement," his language fully supports the concept. The LGA is the key for the summer camp participant to understanding and using the competencies.

Preparing an LGA

At the conclusion of the presentation of each competency during staff training or the summer camp, the Manager of Learning asks the learner how he might apply the competency in the position held back home.

The Manager of Learning then asks each learner to write down for later use in the LGA one or two ways the competency might be used.

The staff or candidate has an individual counseling session with the coach counselor. They:

• Agree on an application that is realistic, challenging, and can be completed in a reasonable amount of time.
• Plan that application so that the LGA is oriented towards service, that is helping others.

The LGA is ideally prepared in triplicate: one copy to the learner, one to his home leader, and one to the White Stag counselor. The LGA may apply to any position in or out of White Stag. We do have an obligation to the learner's home unit who has typically sent the participant; our priority ought to be to develop applications in that area.

Fulfilling an LGA

The LGA is the learner's evaluation of his fulfillment of personal growth objectives, based on current learning situations.

These are experiences that are planned in advance that demonstrate application of the competency in some way. For example, designing a menu, organizing the purchase, and cooking the meal successfully could satisfactorily be a LGA for Planning.

The complexity of the LGA depends on the learner's level of knowledge and ability. A Phase I LGA might read, "I will apply 'Communications' by taking notes at Patrol meetings." A Phase III LGA might read, "I will apply 'Communications' by presenting a session on the competency to my Leadership Corps and Patrol Leaders."

No one single action, event or accomplishment ought to be used for fulfillment of more than one part of an LGA. A follow-on or succeeding action could be, providing each can be identified and acted upon independently.

Applying one leadership competency may introduce the use of another competency. However, each part of an LGA ought to be primarily oriented towards one subject.

Evaluating Candidate LGAs

Evaluating LGA completion is done jointly by the learner and his leader (a candidate or staff member and his home youth leader). Fulfillment is based on performance, not on a person's ability to write it down. Oral conferences and evaluation is suitable. A copy of a youth member's or participant's LGA must be given to their home youth leader.

The LGA evaluation must answer at least the following questions:

• What happened, especially in compari-son to what was expected?
• How realistic were the expectations?
• How might a better application be written?
• Did the learner really complete what he said he contracted to do?

Our impact during in one week on a youth's emotional or intellectual capabilities are limited. We must have expectations for LGAs that are realistic, challenging, and flexible.

Motivating Learners to Complete LGAs

We must devise an effective "carrot" that will motivate learners to complete them, especially after the summer camp. Suggestions include the White Stag patch, neckerchief, or a special sticker that can be added to the certificate to indicate completion.

The purpose of an incentive is to encourage more learners to complete the application and to give them recognition. In addition, it is important for the learner to realize that leadership development is not a "one-shot" deal, and that their "level" of learning is not complete pending completion of a LGA.

Benefits of the LGA program

It is clear that the learner can benefit from LGAs. He will realize that leadership development does not end when he gets in the car to go home. Learning is increased because LGAs are a written application and a follow-on evaluation. Those individuals that do complete the LGA will be able to take pride in an exceptional achievement and should be appropriately recognized, perhaps during the next year's program. This would have the added benefit of establishing a model for the current year's candidates.

Because the learners are applying the leadership competencies in the home unit, the White Stag program will gain positive responses from the leaders. The leaders will have a better understanding of the program's methods, content and purposes, and thus the learner may experience yet greater success. The White Stag pro-gram and the home unit will experience increased benefit.

Because of LGAs, White Stag might increase the number of candidates cycling thorough the phases, providing our-selves with a more stable, mature, experienced and knowledgeable population base from which to draw on for membership. This will enrich our program even further.

We can increase the number of candidates attracted to the program via a strengthening of our relationships with interested and supportive unit leaders. Recruitment will require less effort.

We will affect more people and spread the ideals of White Stag and leadership development, since candi-date and staff LGAs will demonstrate the validity, vitality, usefulness, and purposefulness of the program.

We will keep the unit leader's awareness of White Stag higher during the rest of the year.

We will provide ourselves with documented evidence of our success, and perhaps an immediate evaluation of the phase and program's success.

See Personal Leadership Growth Agreement for an example of a typical LGA form.

Sample Evaluation Forms

The forms on the following pages have been developed and successfully used over several years. They ought to meet most program's needs with little if any modification.

• Objective Score Sheet.
• Competency Objective Evaluation
• Individual Leadership Skills Evaluation
• Adventure Trail Evaluation
• Manager of Learning Session Evaluation
• Manager of Learning Discussion Checklist
• Group Membership Skills Evaluation
• Personal Leadership Growth Agreement
• Patrol Campsite Evaluation
• Overall Objective Evaluation

					White Stag Candidate Application and Resource Sheet	Attach recent photo at top right
Personal Info	Name: ____________________________________ Age: ______  Sex: M / F Address:_______________________ City:_________________ Zip: _______ Hobbies: _____________________________ Height: _____ Weight: _____ Previous leadership training: _______________________________________ Unit number: _______ Leader's name: Mr./Mrs./Miss ___________________ Leader's full address: ____________________________________________
Your Outdoor Skills This info is used to help place you in a phase and patrol suited to your abilities.	Indicate by number for each skill: 1. Well enough to teach 2. Well enough to enjoy 3. Need to learn or review Camp set up: ____ Knife & axe: ____ Cooking: ____ Fire building: ____ Knots: ____ Lashings: ____ Map & compass: ____ Backpacking: ____ Swimming: ____ First aid: ____ Lifesaving: ____ Survival: ____ Number of overnight camp outs: ____ Longest backpack trip: None/Miles: ____
Why White Stag Please tell us what you expect to learn from attending White Stag. Be specific.	________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ (continue on reverse)
FOR STAFF USE ONLY
Candidate-Day Participation			Summer Camp Recommendation
Phase/Level:   I     II     III			Phase:   I     II     III     IV     V     VI
Patrol: _______________			Patrol: _______________
PL/PC: _______________			PL/PC: _______________
Comments: (continue on reverse)			Comments: (continue on reverse)
Why White Stag Be specific. (continued from front)	______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
FOR STAFF USE ONLY
Candidate-Day Participation			Summer Camp Recommendation
Comments: (continued from front) Signed: ________________ Date ___/___/___			Comments: (continued from front) Signed: ________________ Date ___/___/___

Candidate Application and Resource Sheet

The candidate application is the first step in helping potential leaders-in-training to begin to evaluate themselves and what they want to learn. It is also our first chance to get an idea of what they know about leadership development and what they expect to get from the experience.

The application and resource sheet is used at Candidate-Day to assign individuals to a patrol. The name of the Patrol Leader/Counselor is noted, which can be helpful when developing patrol rosters for the summer camp later. It helps the staff to create patrols of relatively equal strengths in terms of individual capabilities.

When C-Day is concluded, the application is reviewed by the staff. Based on the input from the individual's Patrol Leader/Counselor, a recommendation for an appropriate summer camp phase, if different, is noted on the application. The Patrol Leader/Counselor can also get to know his patrol members before the summer camp program starts.

[1] Bánáthy, Béla. A Design for Leadership Development in Scouting. San Jose State University Master's thesis. Later published by the Monterey Bay Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. 1963. p 5.

[2] ibid. p 18.

[3] ibid. p 19-20.

[4] Bánáthy, Béla. Report on a Leadership Development Experiment. August, 1964. 10pp.