["European Journal of Education, Volume 61, Issue 3, September 2026. ", "\nABSTRACT\nThis longitudinal study examines 30 years in the lives of two segregated Roma communities in Hungary by tracing educational trajectories and adult life chances. It analyses acculturation processes, exploring how educational experiences intersect with bicultural home and community socialisation to shape the accumulation and transformation of forms of capital relevant to school continuity and attainment. Data were collected at four time points: at the beginning (1995) and end (2003) of primary schooling using adapted surveys, followed by biographical interviews with participants (2017) and interviews with local educational actors (2025). The findings illustrate the diversity of bicultural ecologies. Even geographically and socially closed bicultural communities can sustain educational development when inclusive institutional actors—particularly schools—cooperate with other services and mobilise community resources. In their absence, spirals of poverty and marginalisation are reinforced. Strong bicultural ecologies support individual and collective educational strategies that counter social exclusion and facilitate social mobility.\n"]