In 2020, the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) within the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education published "What Works Best: 2020 Update (WWB2020)." Drawing on Michael Apple's "simple questions" as a theoretical lens, this paper analyses the first two "Themes, Practices, or Strategies" (TPS) of the "WWB2020" document -- "High Expectations" and "Explicit Instruction" -- to determine their suitability for secondary classroom music education. It finds that the NSW Music Years 7-10 syllabus, which rests upon a Deweyan emphasis on experience and constructivism, is congruent with contemporary philosophies of music education -- such as those espoused by Reimer, Jorgensen, and Elliott -- but epistemologically incompatible with the objectivist, behaviourist/cognitivist "WWB2020." This contradiction produces cognitive conflict for Classroom Music Teachers (CMTs) who are susceptible to pressure to conform to the "WWB2020" culture of teaching. CMTs are urged not to accept the "evidence" presented in WWB2020 and subsequently implement the two TPS in their music classrooms. Rather, the paper shows that Explicit Instruction and High Expectations -- realised through differentiation -- are not "What Work Best" for music education. Instead, it offers a range of alternative pedagogic strategies that are congruent with the ideals of the NSW 7-10 music syllabus and contemporary music education philosophies.