On Point | Podcast Falling Behind: Troublemakers
Aug 26, 2025
Jayante Owens, an Assistant Professor at Yale focusing on social contexts in education, and Andrew Cooper, a fifth-grade teacher in Salt Lake City, explore challenges boys face in the classroom. They discuss how perceptions of boys’ behavior influence their educational outcomes. Strategies for engaging energetic boys, like movement and collaboration, are highlighted. They also tackle impulse control issues, cultural expectations, and the systemic gaps in support faced by boys, emphasizing the need for empathetic teaching approaches.
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One-On-One And Movement Win Over Disruption
- Andrew Cooper describes one-on-one and movement-based tactics that quickly engaged a high-energy fifth grader.
- He combined focused attention and hands-on activities to teach the same material in minutes instead of the class's 25 minutes.
Labels Shape Long-Term School Outcomes
- Being labeled a troublemaker shapes a boy's self-image and school trajectory.
- Early treatment by teachers and peers influences long-term educational outcomes for boys.
Early Self-Control Predicts Educational Attainment
- Early self-regulation and social skills predict years of schooling and college completion.
- Girls averaged about three quarters of a year more schooling, with behavior differences explaining part of that gap.
