Tutoring in Aurora, Illinois
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Aurora, 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.
Aurora has no single city school district. East Aurora School District 131 and West Aurora School District 129 each run one high school, East Aurora High and West Aurora High. The far east side belongs to Indian Prairie School District 204, which has its offices in Aurora and also serves much of Naperville through Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley high schools. The address decides which of them a child attends. Aurora is also home to the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, a public residential school for grades 10 to 12 that students apply to.
State tests Aurora students take
| 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
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.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Illinois 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 IAR. 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 Naperville, North Aurora, Montgomery, Oswego, Batavia and Sugar Grove as it does in Aurora.
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 Aurora, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Indian Prairie School District 204 can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Aurora University or Waubonsee Community 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.