WASHINGTON (AP) — States will have more time to identify failing schools as part of new Obama administration rules aimed at supporting troubled public schools and students who are struggling.

The rules, released Monday, provide a broad framework for states as they design new accountability systems to evaluate schools, to improve ones that aren't adequately educating students and to narrow achievement gaps. It's a key part of the bipartisan education law passed almost one year ago and signed into law by President Barack Obama to replace the widely criticized No Child Left Behind Act.

Under the...