Quantitative studies, such as tracking for high school dropout among English as a second language (ESL) students (Alberta Education, 1992; Watt & Roessingh, 1994a, 1994b) or using survey data to identify second language students' needs (Davis & McDaid, 1992), offer only partial insight into the success and failure of ESL students in the educational system. This study sought to refine our understanding of ESL students' educational and cultural adjustment to high school. Students' stories, in the form of autobiographical narratives, indicate a boom-and-bust pattern of cultural and educational adjustment common to both successful and unsuccessful ESL students in high school. An awareness of the pattern can assist ESL and mainstream teachers in offering appropriate support at times when the students are most at risk offailure.
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