Tutoring in Hawaii
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Hawaii, 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.
Hawaii runs every public school in the state as one district, so the testing calendar is the same on every island. Students take Smarter Balanced tests in English language arts and math in grades 3 to 8 and in grade 11, and the Hawaii State Science Assessment in grades 5 and 8. High school science is tested by course. Anyone enrolled in Biology 1 takes the state's Biology 1 end-of-course exam that year. Juniors also sit the ACT at school, with the writing section, and the state covers the cost. Students in Kaiapuni Hawaiian language immersion schools take the KĀʻEO assessments in Hawaiian in place of the English-language tests in grades 3 to 8.
What Hawaii 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 | Smarter Balanced | Not tested |
| Math | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Smarter Balanced | Not tested | Not tested | Smarter Balanced | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | HSA Science | Not tested | Not tested | HSA Science | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- Smarter Balanced (Smarter Balanced Assessment): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8 and 11
- HSA Science (Hawaii State Science (NGSS) Assessment): science, grades 5 and 8
- Main testing window
- mid-February to late May
- Standards
- Hawaii Common Core Standards and Next Generation Science Standards
- Paid for by the state
- ACT, grade 11, on a school day
- Exams tied to a course
- Biology 1 (Biology 1 End-of-Course Exam)
A child attends the school assigned to their home address unless the family applies for a geographic exception, and applications for the next school year are taken from January 1 to March 1.
Is there a graduation test in Hawaii?
No. A Hawaii High School Diploma depends on earning 24 credits in required courses, and no test score is part of it.
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.