Randomized Controlled Trial Testing a Training Program About Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

Understanding and Improving Access to Section 504 Among Students With Disabilities

The goal of this training program is to learn if the intervention (i.e., training program) can improve access to Section 504 among students with disabilities and family caregivers. If students with disabilities and/or family caregivers are educated and empowered about Section 504, then there may be improved access to higher-quality of Section 504 plans. We aim to answer the following question: Is the training program effective?

If there is a comparison group: We (our research team) will compare the intervention group to a waitlist-control group to discern differences in advocacy, empowerment, and knowledge and, subsequently, higher quality Section 504 plans and greater access to services.

Participants will:

• Attend an online class for an hour and a half each week for 6 weeks
• Complete a pre-survey
• Complete a formative evaluation after each program session
• Complete a summative evaluation after the entire advocacy program
• Complete a post-survey after completing the advocacy program
• Complete a follow-up survey
• Submit a copy of their child's (or their) Section 504 plan after providing consent

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Students With Disabilities and/or Family Members With Students With Disabilities That Have a Section 504 Plan
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Treatment; Other: Materials-only control condition

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 160
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Meghan M Burke, Dr.; Phone Number: 615-343-1014; Email: meghan.burke@vanderbilt.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Tennessee
    • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37203
      • Recruiting
      • It is all on zoom (so anyone in the country can join)
      • Contact: Zoom; Phone Number: 6155851420; Email: meghan.burke@vanderbilt.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria: The participant must be willing to complete the research measures and the training program as well as meet one of the two following criteria:

• be a student aged 12-21 who receives Section 504 supports during K-12 school
• be the caregiver of a child who receives Section 504 supports during K-12 school

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Intervention group; Treatment	Other: Treatment; Training program about Section 504 for individuals with disabilities and/or family caregivers of an individual with disabilities.; Other Names: Section 504 plans; Section 504
Other: Waitlist-control group	Other: Materials-only control condition; Materials-only then access to advocacy training around Section 504 plans for individuals with disabilities and/or family caregivers of individuals with disabilities. Will have advocacy training 6 months after the control group.; Other Names: Section 504 plans; Section 504

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Knowledge of Section 504	This is a 20 item measure; each item has four response options. Only one response option is correct. The score is the sum of correct responses ranging from 0 to 20.	From enrollment to the end of the training program at six weeks
Advocacy Activities Scale	This is a 15 item measure wherein each item has four response options. The final score is the sum of the response options.	From enrollment to the end of the training program at six weeks
Empowerment	This is a 34 item measure wherein each item has four responses. The score is the sum of the responses.	From enrollment to the end of the training program at six weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Quality of the Section 504 plan	This is a rubric which gauges the quality of the Section 504 plan. The score reflects a range from 0-15 of needed items on the Section 504 plan.	From enrollment to six months after the end of the training program
Service access	This is a 24 item measure that examines whether a certain support is received. The score is the sum of received supports (ranging from 0-24).	From enrollment to six months after the end of the training program

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Vanderbilt University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 13, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 13, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): July 17, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 17, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 13, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Disability; Section 504; Section 504 plans
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Therapeutics
• Other Study ID Numbers: 90DPGE0101 (Other Grant/Funding Number: National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The de-identified data may be uploaded to the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: At the conclusion of the project for an indefinite period of time.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Anyone can access the data at ICPSR.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No