Through a lens of cultural capital, this dissertation explored the complex implementation of Section 504 policy in public high schools, focused on how school-level characteristics and the state-level litigious educational environment impact the qualifying rates of 504 plans. This study of the 2017-18 school year employed data from national databases, including the Office of Civil Rights biennial reports and the National Center for Education Statistics. Variables of interest include school level characteristics of socio-economic status, racial and ethnic demographics, school size, school types, and urbanicity, with the dependent variable being the proportion of students with 504 plans, and a mediating state-level variable of the litigious educational environment. A mediated multilevel linear model (MML) was used to analyze and manage the clustering effects present in educational data. The research highlighted how affluent and privileged families are better at accessing 504 plans to gain academic advantages. The findings supported previous research in identifying disparities in 504 plan qualification rates, influenced by school characteristics on qualifying rates of 504 plan. Additionally, the data showed evidence of a long suspected positive mediated relationship of a litigious climate on the connections between school characteristics and 504 plan rates. The study emphasized the need for improvements to policy implementation at the national, state, district, and school levels. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]