Duncan's Alarm on 'Failing' Schools Raises Eyebrows

Education policy experts are questioning the strategy and data behind U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s announcement that the wide majority of schools could be labeled as “failing” this year under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Mr. Duncan this week ramped up his push for Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the current version of which is NCLB, telling Congress that 82 percent of the nation’s schools may not make adequate yearly progress, or AYP, this year, according to U.S. Department of Education estimates.

In testimony March 9 before the House Education and the Workforce Committee, the education secretary said: “The consequences under the current law are very clear: States and districts all across America may have to intervene in more and more schools each year, implementing the exact same interventions regardless...