Tutoring in Shreveport, Louisiana
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Shreveport, 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.
The Red River is a district line. Shreveport and the rest of Caddo Parish, including Blanchard and Greenwood, are served by Caddo Parish Public Schools. Bossier City, Haughton and Benton on the east bank belong to Bossier Parish Schools, with a separate calendar and separate attendance zones. Louisiana organizes public schools by parish, so a move across the bridge changes the district. Caddo assigns students to neighborhood schools by address and also runs magnet schools that take applications.
State tests Shreveport 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 Bossier City, Haughton, Benton, Blanchard and Greenwood as it does in Shreveport.
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 Shreveport, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Caddo Parish Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Louisiana State University Shreveport, Centenary College of Louisiana or Southern University at Shreveport, 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.