Tutoring in Arizona
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Arizona, 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.
Arizona tests English language arts and math every spring in grades 3 to 8 with AASA, and science in grades 5, 8 and 11 with AzSCI. High school works differently. Ninth graders take ACT Aspire, which Arizona still gives although ACT has discontinued it nationally, and juniors sit the ACT itself at school at no cost to the family. That one sitting is both the state high school test and a score a student can send to colleges, so we would treat eleventh grade as the year that counts twice. Tenth and twelfth graders have no statewide achievement test.
What Arizona tests, and when
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | AASA | AASA | AASA | AASA | AASA | AASA | ACT Aspire | Not tested | ACT | Not tested |
| Math | AASA | AASA | AASA | AASA | AASA | AASA | ACT Aspire | Not tested | ACT | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | AzSCI | Not tested | Not tested | AzSCI | Not tested | Not tested | AzSCI | Not tested |
- AASA (Arizona's Academic Standards Assessment): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- AzSCI (Arizona's Science Test): science, grades 5, 8 and 11
- ACT Aspire: reading and writing, math, grade 9
- ACT: reading and writing, math, grade 11
- Main testing window
- mid-April to early May for AASA and AzSCI, with the ACT given on set school days in spring
- Standards
- Arizona Academic Standards
- Paid for by the state
- ACT, grade 11, on a school day
Under Move On When Reading, a third grader who scores below the state cut score on the reading portion of AASA is not promoted to fourth grade unless a good-cause exemption applies. One of those exemptions is completing summer reading instruction and then showing sufficient progress, so ask the school about it as soon as scores arrive.
Is there a graduation test in Arizona?
No score on AASA, AzSCI or the ACT is required for a diploma, but a student must answer at least 70 of 100 questions correctly on the state civics test, which can be retaken until passed.
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 AASA. 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
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.
Ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. A nearby college is the next place to look, since students there 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.