Tutoring in Illinois
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Illinois, 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.
Illinois changed its high school test in spring 2025, when the ACT replaced the SAT. Juniors now take the ACT with science and writing at school in March or April. The state pays, and the result is a score colleges accept. Ninth graders take PreACT 9 Secure and tenth graders take PreACT Secure in the same weeks. Younger students take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in English language arts and math each spring from grades 3 to 8, and the Illinois Science Assessment in grades 5 and 8. Eleventh graders no longer sit a separate state science test, because the ACT's science section fills that role.
What Illinois tests, and when
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | PreACT 9 Secure | PreACT Secure | ACT | Not tested |
| Math | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | IAR | PreACT 9 Secure | PreACT Secure | ACT | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | ISA | Not tested | Not tested | ISA | PreACT 9 Secure | PreACT Secure | ACT | Not tested |
- IAR (Illinois Assessment of Readiness): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- ISA (Illinois Science Assessment): science, grades 5 and 8
- PreACT 9 Secure: reading and writing, math, science, grade 9
- PreACT Secure: reading and writing, math, science, grade 10
- ACT: reading and writing, math, science, grade 11
- Main testing window
- early March to late April
- Standards
- Illinois Learning Standards
- Paid for by the state
- ACT, grade 11, on a school day
A junior who already took the ACT on a Saturday still has to take it again at school in the spring. A senior with no valid score from the state administration is automatically scheduled for it in twelfth grade.
Is there a graduation test in Illinois?
A student has to take the state ACT to receive a regular diploma, unless exempt, but no minimum score is required.
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 IAR. 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.