Tutoring in Colorado
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Colorado, 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.
Colorado gives CMAS in English language arts and math every April in grades 3 to 8, and CMAS science in grades 5, 8 and 11. High school uses College Board tests instead. Ninth and tenth graders take the PSAT and juniors take the SAT, at school, on a set day in April, paid for by the state. The CMAS window for spring 2027 runs April 5 to 23, and the PSAT and SAT fall inside April 12 to 23. State law lets a parent excuse a child from these tests, and a district may not penalize the student for it. The catch is that you then get no state report on how your child is doing against the standards.
What Colorado tests, and when
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | CMAS | CMAS | CMAS | CMAS | CMAS | CMAS | PSAT | PSAT | SAT | Not tested |
| Math | CMAS | CMAS | CMAS | CMAS | CMAS | CMAS | PSAT | PSAT | SAT | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | CMAS Science | Not tested | Not tested | CMAS Science | Not tested | Not tested | CMAS Science | Not tested |
- CMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- CMAS Science (Colorado Measures of Academic Success, science): science, grades 5, 8 and 11
- PSAT: reading and writing, math, grades 9 and 10
- SAT: reading and writing, math, grade 11
- Main testing window
- three weeks in April
- Standards
- Colorado Academic Standards
- Paid for by the state
- SAT, grade 11, on a school day
Colorado has no exit exam, but graduation rules are set district by district from a state menu, and the SAT a junior takes at school in April is on that menu. Ask the high school which options it accepts and what score it wants before junior spring.
Is there a graduation test in Colorado?
No single test is required, but every district must have students show readiness in English and in math through an option it picks from a state menu, and an SAT score is one of those options.
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 CMAS. 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.