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This paper presents a differential study on the way education was delivered within families during the COVID-19 lockdown (spring 2020) in the Valencian Community (Spain). Composite indicators based on responses to a survey for families were used to describe their difficulties (identified as "gaps") in homeschooling. We also considered traditional indicators of family socioeconomic and cultural level. Taking into account the characteristics of the distributions, we analyzed the results using nonparametric tests (chisquare, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H). Our findings advocate more work to further identify and define valid composite indicators to describe the contexts in which families operate as an educational setting, in order to use them as covariate variables for family socioeconomic and cultural level in research on factors associated with performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current unprecedented levels of academic achievement among girls from all classes raise questions about the contemporary experience of girls in general and, in particular, working-class girls who, historically, perform less well. As the relatively low achievement of working-class girls has been associated with family culture and influence, this, in turn, raises questions about girls' experience in the contemporary family. This paper draws on findings from a recent research project and focuses on the contribution of working-class mothers to girls' achievement. Working-class families were defined as either traditional (retaining traditional gender relations) or transitional (challenging traditional gender relations). Factors which were identified as contributing to a 'transitional' life trajectory for a working-class mother might include: the impact of employment, adult education, the women's movement, and/or the experiences of divorce and lone parenting. The author concludes that while neither traditional nor transitional working-class mothers might become greatly involved in formal aspects of schooling, it is clear that their relationships with their daughters strongly influence their academic experience. Mother-daughter relationship seemed to favour girls' educational achievement in three main and interconnected ways: (a) by emphasising independence, (b) by providing emotional support, and (c) by influencing girls' values in the light of current social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]