A large body of research in disciplines from sociology and policy studies to neuroscience and educational psychology has confirmed that socioeconomic status remains the most powerful influence on children’s educational outcomes. Socially disadvantaged children around the world disproportionately suffer from lower levels of educational achievement, which in turn leads to unfavourable long-term outcomes in employment and health. Education in the Best Interests of the Child addresses this persistent problem, which violates not only the principle of equal educational opportunity, but also the broader principle of the best interests of the child as called for in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Building on the children’s rights work accomplished in their previous book, Empowering Children, Brian Howe and Katherine Covell identify three types of reform that can significantly close the educational achievement gap. Their findings make an important argument for stronger and more comprehensive action to equalize educational opportunities for disadvantaged children.

R. Brian Howe is a professor of political science and Katherine Covell is a professor of psychology at Cape Breton University. They are co-directors of the university’s Children’s Rights Centre and the authors of numerous articles on children’s rights and human rights in Canada. Their books include The Challenge of Children’s Rights for Canada (WLUP, 2001) and Empowering Children: Children’s Rights Education as a Pathway to Citizenship (2005). Katherine Covell is the author of the UN report Violence against Children in North America (2005).

R. Brian Howe's profile page

Katherine Covell holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto. She is a professor emerita and former executive director of the Children’s Rights Centre at Cape Breton University. She has acted as a national and international advocate for children, and has published widely on children’s rights and child development, including the UN report Violence against Children in North America (2005).

Katherine Covell's profile page

‘Howe and Covell offer up an excellent, compelling argument for addressing the achievement gap that exists among children by using a human rights perspective…. Recommended.’

Choice Magazine; vol 51:05:14