The impact of a leadership development program on fifth-grade students' disciplinary referrals and leadership

The problem is academically at-risk students have less opportunity to participate in leadership development programs or be chosen for leadership training. There is a need to develop more programs for this population of students that focus on the development of leadership. The intent of the study was to explore the effects of an afterschool leadership development program on the conduct and leadership skills of 34 fifth-grade students from two elementary schools in an urban school district in northern New Jersey. Students considered academically at risk for school failure were the target population for this study. Each of the 34 fifth-grade students had to meet one of four criteria to participate in the study. The experimental group (n1 = 19) participated in a 3-week afterschool Leadership Education and Development Academy (LEAD Academy). The assessment used for the pre- and posttesting was the Leadership Skills Inventory (LSI) to identify any significant differences between the experimental group and the control group (n2 = 15) in nine areas of leadership. ANCOVA tests were conducted to test the hypotheses. The leadership capacities of the students in the experimental group were developed after participating in the LEAD Academy. These students also had significantly higher posttest scores. This study may promote social change by changing the perception of those who assume that at-risk students do not have leadership potential. The results demonstrate the importance of nurturing the untapped leadership potential of students who have not been socialized to see themselves as leaders, thus developing effective leaders who can foster constructive change in their school, community, and country. Additional studies exploring the leadership ability of at-risk students should be conducted.