Homes and Children    

This paper has conclusions that seem obvious from a teacher's perspective, but it must be even more striking and meaningful from the perspective of a parent.  While I am no academic (especially by comparison to these three Harvard professors), I encourage you to read this paper.  Here is the beginning of the abstract.  Click the link to read this in its entirity.

Abstract

Does homeownership affect the outcomes of resident children?  Using a national data set, we observed that children of homeowners have better home environments, high cognitive test scores, and fewer behavior problems than do children of renters.  We find that these results hold even after controlling for a large number of economic, social, and demographic variables.  Owning a home compared with renting leads to 13 to 23 percent higher quality home environment, ceteris paribus.