Wood Badge (Boy Scouts of America) - Course Effectiveness

Course Effectiveness

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Boy Scouts spent more than five years studying the White Stag program before implementing a version of the program that included adaptations of the eleven competencies, but excluded the program's symbolism, spirit and traditions. All subsequent revisions have been implemented in two years or less. The actual usefulness and practical effect of Wood Badge training in the United States has never been measured. The Boy Scouts of America wrote in its A History of Wood Badge in the United States that:

It should be stated at the start that there is no objective evidence that Wood Badge improved leadership in Scouting. The Boy Scouts of America has never undertaken to statistically validate the impact of Wood Badge by conducting before and after tests, or by comparing Wood Badge Scouters with Scouters who are not Wood Badge trained.