The stimulus is paying youths to get their GEDs in rural Alabama.

These are obviously not normal teacher-student relationships. Deborah has never been a professional teacher but says she was hired because she knew how to connect. Her pedagogy makes her a mix of teacher, preacher, and camp counselor. When the kids get questions right they get one of those Chuck E. Cheese-type ball-pit balls as a reward. Her encouragement would border on sap if the stakes weren't so high. In response to self-doubt from one of the kids, Deborah turned reassurance into a call-and-response. "You can. You can do anything. What can you do?" "Everything," they responded without any of the passive cynicism that rules high-school classrooms.

Most of Deborah's students bail before actually taking the GED. They show up for all of the classes, complete the coursework, and just don't come to the test. HERO estimates that their comprehension has shot up three grade levels, but they don't have anything to show for it. This is why the dog is on the whiteboard today, she explained. Too often students are afraid to leave their electrified fences and find out what's on the other side. Again, it would be hackneyed if it weren't so potentially effective.

With the dog anecdote done, Deborah picked up a binder full of sample math problems. It was time to move on to a recap of imperfect fractions. The kids in the class clamored to answer the questions in groups. Deborah wasn't having it: "No teams today. Sometimes you got to stand on your own." The stimulus can only support them for so long.

(Photographs by David Backer.)

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