Reading tutoring in Birmingham, Alabama
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Birmingham, and we have no office there. If you want a person, this page says how we would look for one. If the question is which skill is missing, we can help with that part.
Public schools in Birmingham are run by Birmingham City Schools. Alabama tests reading and writing together, as English language arts, with ACAP Summative in grades 3 through 8, PreACT Secure in grade 10 and the ACT with Writing in grade 11.
Three different problems look the same from outside
Reading trouble looks alike at every age. The child reads the page and can't tell you what it said. Underneath, some children are still sounding words out, slowly enough that the start of the sentence is gone by the end. Some read smoothly and don't know enough of the words. Some can do both and have never been asked to do anything with a text except finish it.
These need different help, and guessing wrong costs a year. Comprehension worksheets do nothing for a child who can't decode. Phonics drills bore a child who can.
The problem on the page
"Why did the author include the second paragraph?"
Inferring what a text does not say outright
Grade 4 and up
Working out a word from its context
Grade 3 and up · rests on the one below
Reading fluently
Grade 2 · usually where it started
Decoding letters into sounds
Kindergarten and grade 1
What Alabama tests, by grade
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | ACAP Summative | ACAP Summative | ACAP Summative | ACAP Summative | ACAP Summative | ACAP Summative | Not tested | PreACT Secure | ACT with Writing | Not tested |
| Math | ACAP Summative | ACAP Summative | ACAP Summative | ACAP Summative | ACAP Summative | ACAP Summative | Not tested | PreACT Secure | ACT with Writing | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | ACAP Summative | Not tested | ACAP Summative | Not tested | ACAP Summative | Not tested | PreACT Secure | ACT with Writing | Not tested |
- ACAP Summative (Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- ACAP Summative: science, grades 4, 6 and 8
- PreACT Secure: reading and writing, math, science, grade 10
- ACT with Writing: reading and writing, math, science, grade 11
Testing dates, graduation rules and the one deadline families miss are on a separate page. Birmingham guide
Kolu finds the missing skill and goes back to it
Kolu cannot hear a child read aloud. It can't check decoding or fluency, and for a child in kindergarten through second grade who is still learning to sound out words it is the wrong tool. From about third grade up, it works on vocabulary, on finding what a passage claims and what supports the claim, and on explaining an answer in the student's own words. Those written answers are read for what they mean, with no keyword matching.
Kolu does not call a skill mastered after one right answer. That takes correct work on different kinds of problems on different days, and a skill that fades gets brought back.
Kolu is not test prep for ACAP Summative. It has no bank of released questions. It teaches the skills the test draws on, and it will not do tonight's homework.
When to hire a person instead
If a child past second grade still guesses at words, ask the school for a reading screening and look for a tutor trained in structured literacy. Most states now require schools to screen young readers for signs of dyslexia, and you can ask to see the result.
In Birmingham, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Birmingham City Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at University of Alabama at Birmingham, Samford University, Miles College or Lawson State Community College, who took these courses recently and usually charge less than an agency.
Whoever you hire, ask one question before the first session: how will you find out what my child doesn't know? If the answer is that they will go over the homework, keep looking.
Free for one subject, $15 a month for 5
Kolu is free for one subject at a time, with one full skill check every 30 days and up to 4 sessions a day. Plus is $15 a month, or $120 for a year, and covers 5 subjects at once with unlimited skill checks. A learner under 13 needs a parent or guardian to set up the account.