How Happiness, Self-Concept, and Locus of Control Relate to 12th Grade Reading Achievement: A Quantitative Study Using NAEP Data

Abstract

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?