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A multidimensional perspective is provided of the achievement and educational experiences elementary school students of Mexican origin in a major northern city. To deepen understanding of the complex interplay of factors that ultimately cause many of these students to become educational casualties, traditional research methods of ethnography were used, including long-term on-site participation and observation, open-ended interviews with eight student-parent pairs, and descriptive data. Five longitudinal case studies provided information on the lives and school experiences of these students who are at risk of dropping out of school. The data indicate that only in two cases were the students well on their way to successful completion of high school and beyond. It is concluded that dropouts are made, not born, and that the chain of events leading to dropping out of school is forged in elementary school, with consequences visible only later. The school success of children of Mexican origin is an interactively determined phenomenon that depends on the following three environments that mold the child: (1) family; (2) school; and (3) barrio (neighborhood, ward, or district). A list of 12 references and a summary of theories about caste, collusion, and conflict are appended. (SLD)