Tutoring in Kansas City, Kansas
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Kansas City, 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.
Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, USD 500, serves most of the city. Turner, USD 202, covers the southern part and Piper, USD 203, the northwest. Within USD 500, Sumner Academy of Arts and Science admits students by application, with grade, attendance and test score requirements, and the application window closes in winter for the following fall. Students here take Kansas tests and follow Kansas graduation rules, which differ from those across the state line in Kansas City, Missouri.
State tests Kansas City students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | KAP | KAP | KAP | KAP | KAP | KAP | Not tested | KAP | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | KAP | KAP | KAP | KAP | KAP | KAP | Not tested | KAP | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | KAP Science | Not tested | Not tested | KAP Science | Not tested | Not tested | KAP Science | Not tested |
- KAP (Kansas Assessment Program): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8 and 10
- KAP Science: science, grades 5, 8 and 11
Graduation rules change with the class of 2028. Those students need 21 credits and at least two postsecondary assets from a list set by the State Board of Education, so it is worth asking the high school early which assets it offers.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Kansas 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 KAP. 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 Bonner Springs, Edwardsville, Shawnee, Merriam and Mission as it does in Kansas City.
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 Kansas City, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (USD 500) can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Kansas City Kansas Community College, University of Kansas Medical Center or Donnelly 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.