The dropout rate amongst Hispanic high schoolers is the lowest it has been in the past three decades, but reasons behind this positive turnaround are debatable.

The current dropout rate, roughly 14 percent, is half of what it was in 2000 among Latinos. This demographic is also one of the largest groups taking the GED test in 2013, about a fourth of all test-takers.

Explanations for these education markers vary widely between policies from the Obama and Bush administrations, to the tougher economic landscape, to larger Latino student populations being at the forefront of educators' concerns.

John Gomperts, the president and CEO of America's Promise Alliance, which aims to reduce the national dropout rate by 2020, said the array of reasons shows the complexity of the situation in schools.

"If someone had discovered a silver bullet, there are a lot of people who care deeply about this and we would have applied that vaccine nationwide if it was that easy," Gomperts said. "It is very complicated, there are so many factors involved."

One key policy change of the Obama administration has been allowing school districts to waive certain rules of the No Child Left Behind laws of the Bush administration. Instead of setting dates to reach math and reading proficiencies, Obama has allowed schools to complete waivers that give more leeway in meeting NCLB expectations. However, these waivers then require districts to adopt federal teaching standards and focus on lowest performing schools.

Roberto Rodriguez, Obama's education policy adviser, said the 42 states participating account for 70 percent of the U.S.'s Latino schoolchildren, about 8.2 million students. He also said it's a bit too soon to tell how well the two-year-old waiver program is working.

"We are seeing some real encouraging results in student engagement and greater student attendance and some leading results around improved performance in those schools," Rodriguez said. "That work plays out across the country, along with other important reforms ... All of those things have contributed to the progress underway in our education system for our Latino community."

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