Tutoring in Anchorage, Alaska
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Anchorage, 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.
One district, the Anchorage School District, covers the whole municipality, so Eagle River, Chugiak and Girdwood are in the same system as midtown. Every address has a neighborhood school. The district also runs alternative schools, charter schools and language immersion programs that take students from anywhere in the municipality, and seats in those are assigned through an online lottery instead of by address. Immersion programs start in the early grades, which means the decision to enter the lottery usually comes before kindergarten.
State tests Anchorage students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | AK STAR | AK STAR | AK STAR | AK STAR | AK STAR | AK STAR | AK STAR | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | AK STAR | AK STAR | AK STAR | AK STAR | AK STAR | AK STAR | AK STAR | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | Alaska Science Assessment | Not tested | Not tested | Alaska Science Assessment | Not tested | Alaska Science Assessment | Not tested | Not tested |
- AK STAR (Alaska System of Academic Readiness): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 9
- Alaska Science Assessment: science, grades 5, 8 and 10
Under the Alaska Reads Act, a third grader who is well below grade level in reading does not move on to fourth grade unless a parent signs a waiver, and the waiver commits the child to 20 hours of summer reading help from the district.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Alaska guide
Kolu finds the missing skill and goes back to it
It starts with a skill check, a short test that gets harder or easier depending on the last answer. The result is a map of the subject broken into skills with their prerequisites drawn in, each one marked as solid, still being learned, or a gap.
After that, each session is a handful of activities picked for that student, usually something due for review, a gap to repair and one new skill. When an answer is wrong, Kolu looks at which earlier skill the mistake points to and goes back to it. Here is what that looks like for a sixth grader who can't divide fractions.
The problem on the page
3/4 ÷ 2/5
Dividing fractions
Grade 6
Multiplying fractions
Grade 5 · rests on the one below
Equivalent fractions
Grade 4 · usually where it started
Multiplication facts
Grade 3
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 AK STAR. It has no bank of released questions. It teaches the skills the test draws on, and it will not do tonight's homework.
It runs in a browser, so it works the same in Eagle River, Chugiak, Girdwood, Wasilla and Palmer as it does in Anchorage.
When to hire a person instead
Some students need a person, and software is the wrong purchase for them. That includes a child who shuts down when the work gets hard, a student with a learning disability who needs someone trained in it, and anyone with an exam in ten days.
In Anchorage, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Anchorage School District can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at University of Alaska Anchorage or Alaska Pacific University, 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.