Tutoring in Connecticut
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Connecticut, 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.
Connecticut gives the Smarter Balanced test in English language arts and math to grades 3 to 8, in a window that runs from late March to the end of May. High school has one state test in those subjects, and it is the SAT. Every junior takes the Connecticut SAT School Day at school, on a date the school picks, and the result serves as the state's grade 11 score as well as a regular SAT score. Science is tested three times with the NGSS Assessment, in grades 5, 8 and 11. Grades 9, 10 and 12 have no state test in English or math.
What Connecticut tests, and when
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Not tested | Not tested | Connecticut SAT School Day | Not tested |
| Math | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Not tested | Not tested | Connecticut SAT School Day | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | NGSS Assessment | Not tested | Not tested | NGSS Assessment | Not tested | Not tested | NGSS Assessment | Not tested |
- Smarter Balanced (Connecticut Smarter Balanced Assessment): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- NGSS Assessment (Next Generation Science Standards Assessment): science, grades 5, 8 and 11
- Connecticut SAT School Day: reading and writing, math, grade 11
- Main testing window
- late March to late May
- Standards
- Connecticut Core Standards
- Paid for by the state
- SAT, grade 11, on a school day
The school-day SAT is early. Each high school chooses its date between March 1 and April 30, 2027, so a junior can be sitting it in the first week of March.
Is there a graduation test in Connecticut?
No. Connecticut has no exit exam, and a diploma depends on the credits and requirements the local district sets under state law.
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 Smarter Balanced. 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.