Tutoring in Tampa, Florida
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Tampa, 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.
Hillsborough County Public Schools is the district for Tampa and for the rest of the county, from Lutz in the north to Riverview in the south and Plant City in the east. A student is assigned a school by address and can apply to another through the district choice process. Crossing a county line means a different district. Wesley Chapel is in Pasco County Schools, and St. Petersburg and Clearwater, across the bay, are in Pinellas County Schools. All of them give the same state tests but choose their own days within the state window.
State tests Tampa 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 Brandon, Riverview, Temple Terrace, Plant City, Lutz and Wesley Chapel as it does in Tampa.
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 Tampa, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Hillsborough County Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at University of South Florida, University of Tampa or Hillsborough 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.