Effects of a school-based leadership program on student leaders and their peers: The Learning to Lead cluster randomized controlled trial

• Peer-led program had positive spillover effects on physical and psychological outcomes. • Improved leadership, wellbeing, and classroom behaviour in leaders. • Peers showed increased physical activity, fitness, and perceived motor competence. • Results underscore the value of integrating leadership training into school curricula. Schools provide an ideal context for developing students’ leadership skills; however, most leadership opportunities (e.g., serving as class president) are typically offered to students who already demonstrate leadership qualities. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of a school-based leadership program, implemented through a peer-led fundamental movement skills intervention, on the leadership abilities of student Leaders (10–12 years) and the physical and psychological development of their younger Peers (8–10 years). We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of the Learning to Lead program in 20 elementary schools in New South Wales, Australia (N = 1898 students). Leader outcomes included teacher-rated leadership effectiveness (the primary outcome), leadership ability, leadership self-efficacy, wellbeing, and observed time on-task in the classroom. Peer outcomes included school-based physical activity (accelerometers), object control motor competence (Test of Gross Motor Development-3), perceived motor competence, cardiorespiratory fitness (20-meter multi-stage fitness test), and muscular power (standing long jump). We observed statistically significant group-by-time effects for Leaders’ leadership effectiveness, wellbeing, and time spent on-task in the classroom. Statistically significant improvements in Peers’ perceived motor competence, school-based physical activity, and cardiorespiratory fitness were also found. Our study demonstrated that a school-based leadership intervention has extensive benefits for the students delivering the program and those they taught. In addition to improvements in students’ leadership skills, the Learning to Lead program produced spillover effects on students’ well‑being and time on task in the classroom.