Tutoring in New Orleans, Louisiana
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in New Orleans, 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.
Almost every public school in New Orleans is a charter school overseen by NOLA Public Schools, and a child does not get a default school by address. Families apply through one form, the NOLA-PS Common Application Process, known as NCAP. Its main round opens in November and closes in January for the following school year, and it is the round for new students, kindergartners and rising ninth graders. Some schools add eligibility criteria or selective admission on top of the application. Metairie and Kenner are in Jefferson Parish Schools, which assigns by attendance zone.
State tests New Orleans students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | LEAP | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- LEAP (Louisiana Educational Assessment Program): reading and writing, math, science, grades 3 through 8
Third-grade promotion does not run on LEAP. It runs on the end-of-year literacy screener: a third grader who scores at the lowest level in April gets two more tries, at the end of May and after summer learning, and is not promoted to fourth grade without clearing it or qualifying for an exemption.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Louisiana 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 LEAP. 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 Metairie, Kenner, Gretna, Harvey, Chalmette and Slidell as it does in New Orleans.
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 New Orleans, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at NOLA Public Schools (Orleans Parish School Board) can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, Xavier University of Louisiana or University of New Orleans, 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.