Tutoring in St. Petersburg, Florida
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in St. Petersburg, 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.
St. Petersburg has no school district of its own. Pinellas County Schools runs the public schools for the whole county, Clearwater and Largo included. Beyond the zoned school, the district offers what it calls District Application Programs: magnet programs and fundamental schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels. They are organized by application area, there is one application period for the following school year, and programs that fill keep a wait list. The district holds Discovery Nights before the application opens so families can see the programs first.
State tests St. Petersburg students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | FAST ELA Reading | FAST ELA Reading | FAST ELA Reading | FAST ELA Reading | FAST ELA Reading | FAST ELA Reading | FAST ELA Reading | FAST ELA Reading | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | FAST Mathematics | FAST Mathematics | FAST Mathematics | FAST Mathematics | FAST Mathematics | FAST Mathematics | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | Statewide Science Assessment | Not tested | Not tested | Statewide Science Assessment | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- FAST ELA Reading (Florida Assessment of Student Thinking): reading and writing, grades 3 through 10
- FAST Mathematics: math, grades 3 through 8
- B.E.S.T. Writing: reading and writing, grades 4 through 10
- Statewide Science Assessment: science, grades 5 and 8
A third grader who scores Level 1 on the spring FAST reading test can be held back unless the school documents a good cause exemption, such as a reading portfolio or a passing score on an approved alternative test.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Florida 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 FAST ELA Reading. 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 Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park, Gulfport, Seminole and St. Pete Beach as it does in St. Petersburg.
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 St. Petersburg, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Pinellas County Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Eckerd College or St. Petersburg College, 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.