Tutoring in District of Columbia
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in District of Columbia, 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.
Spring 2027 is the first year of a redesigned DC CAPE. The District joined the Smarter Balanced consortium, so the English language arts and math tests are now computer-adaptive and report four performance levels where there used to be five. Students in grades 3 through 8 take both subjects each spring, and science is tested in grades 5 and 8. High school tests are tied to courses. A student sits them at the end of ELA I, ELA II, Algebra I, Geometry and Biology, in whichever year those fall. The Algebra II test has been dropped. DCPS and the public charter schools give the same tests, because both report to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
What District of Columbia tests, and when
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | DC CAPE | DC CAPE | DC CAPE | DC CAPE | DC CAPE | DC CAPE | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | DC CAPE | DC CAPE | DC CAPE | DC CAPE | DC CAPE | DC CAPE | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | DC Science | Not tested | Not tested | DC Science | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- DC CAPE (District of Columbia Comprehensive Assessments of Progress in Education): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- DC Science (DC CAPE science assessment): science, grades 5 and 8
- Main testing window
- April and May
- Standards
- Common Core State Standards
- Exams tied to a course
- ELA I, ELA II, Algebra I, Geometry and Biology (DC CAPE)
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education says a student's 2027 scores cannot be compared directly with the 2026 ones. A different performance level this year does not by itself show a gain or a drop.
Is there a graduation test in District of Columbia?
No. A DC diploma is earned through course credits and other local requirements, and no score on DC CAPE is needed.
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 DC CAPE. 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.