Other States, school districts, and schools are also translating the accumulated knowledge base into improved practice and improved results for students with disabilities. While significant progress has been made toward providing a free appropriate public education to students with disabilities and improving results for those students, several challenges remain. First, a central purpose of IDEA is to ensure an effective and individualized education designed to address each child's unique needs in the least restrictive environment. IDEA requires that students with disabilities be educated in the regular classroom with appropriate aids and services, with their nondisabled peers in the school they would attend if not disabled, unless the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with use of supplemental aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. States and school districts have made and continue to make progress in meeting this goal.
States report that an increasing proportion of students are served in regular classes.
Second, significant challenges exist to providing special education services to students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, particularly in urban settings. These students are often inappropriately identified and served. These issues are currently a focus of Federal and State efforts to ensure that these students are identified and placed appropriately. This year's Annual Report describes the Department of Education's efforts to work in partnership with States to maximize results for students with disabilities. These efforts include monitoring and technical assistance activities which are tailored to individual State needs.