Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee (2002) stated, "Leaders are made, not born" (p. 100). The quote is indicative of the shift in skills necessary to be a successful 21st-century learner. Instead of mere academic competencies, the 21st Century learner will need a different type of intelligence to be successful. Emotional intelligence may be considered more important to life outcomes than is IQ (Cherniss, 2001; Goleman, 1995; O'Neil, 1996). Emotional intelligence is associated with positive life outcomes, as seen in several studies conducted on emotional intelligence in business leadership, educational leadership, achievement, and life success. The purpose of this study was to compare the implementation of a system (The Leader In Me [TLIM]) that embeds emotional competencies throughout an entire learning community and its correlation with fifth-grade student achievement. More than 1,200 schools across the United States use TLIM approach. The schools chosen for this study were located solely in the state of Texas. Data were obtained from the publicly available archival datasets from the Texas Education Association (TEA). A causal-comparative analysis using a one-way ANOVA was used to determine whether a significant correlation existed between schools that used TLIM and those that did not. Results indicated no statistically significant difference between the two school groups. Additional analysis was performed to examine the level of implementation. Schools that had reached Lighthouse status demonstrated a significantly higher achievement level in ELA and mathematics compared to schools that did not use TLIM. [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://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]