According to the Manhattan Institute, a research group, test scores in reading and maths have remained much as they were before the two men took over, well below the national and big-city averages.

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The most recent data on GCSEs in England, published in January, showed that pupils from a black background remain the lowest performing group in terms of how many students get five good GCSEs including maths and English.

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The researchers looked at data on children featured in the British Cohort Study - a large group of people born in April 1970 - to look at the link between reading and maths scores at age 10, and earnings at ages 30, 34 and 38.

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