Tutoring in Des Moines, Iowa
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Des Moines, 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.
Des Moines Public Schools covers nearly all of the city and runs five comprehensive high schools: East, Hoover, Lincoln, North and Roosevelt. Two shared programs take students from all of them for part of the day. Central Academy teaches advanced and Advanced Placement courses, and Central Campus offers career and technical programs. The suburbs each have their own district, among them West Des Moines, Ankeny, Johnston, Urbandale and Waukee, and Iowa's open enrollment law lets a family apply to a district other than the one they live in.
State tests Des Moines students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | Not tested |
| Math | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | ISASP | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | ISASP Science | Not tested | Not tested | ISASP Science | Not tested | Not tested | ISASP Science | Not tested |
- ISASP (Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 11
- ISASP Science: science, grades 5, 8 and 11
Starting with the 2026-27 school year, Iowa high school students must pass a civics test to graduate. Passing means answering at least 60 percent of the questions correctly, and a student can retake it as many times as needed.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Iowa 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 ISASP. 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 West Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, Johnston, Waukee and Altoona as it does in Des Moines.
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 Des Moines, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Des Moines Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Drake University, Grand View University or Des Moines Area 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.