This study examines narratives of English learners who have either dropped out or considered dropping out as a result of their experience in high school. This research seeks to determine at which point students left or considered leaving school, which often goes undetected in traditional quantitative data collection methods. The common themes that emerged in these narratives are examined in light of existing research. Researchers have suggested the following reasons English learners leave high school before earning a high school diploma: employment, limited English skills, disciplinary problems, poor grades, and not feeling a “sense of belonging” to the school. The results of this study corroborate these findings with one major difference: the context in which these phenomena occur. In addition, study participants overwhelmingly cited academic program placement and mistreatment by school personnel as being significant contributing factors in their decisions to drop out. Through self-exploration, the researcher’s personal experience as a teacher, department chair, coordinator, and student liaison adds to this study and provides deeper meaning about the learning conditions some minority language students are forced to contend with in certain school settings. This work culminates with recommendations for educators of English learners.
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