Fundamentally, the aim of education is to empower students to live better lives. By "better" it is not merely meant that students will find gainful employment and be more civic-minded, but also that on an individual level a student will engage the examined life and fulfill their potential. This process of self-discovery addresses three essential questions one must face in life: who am I? am I happy? and what shall I do with my life? The focus on test scores and data-driven curriculums that began twenty years ago with the implementation of high-stakes testing has ushered in a new generation of students who do not appear to have a strong sense of identity and have, at best, a tenuous grip on their emotional well-being. If educational leadership genuinely wants to empower students to live better lives, the focus must not only be on what kind of worker-bee it produces and whether that future employee is fighting for social causes or not--beyond those two things, education must equip a student with the skills to find and empower themselves, heeding Horace's injunction: Sapere aude, incipe. The overarching question guiding this literature review is this: What is the relationship between student achievement and happiness, self-concept, and locus of control? [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]