Tutoring in Baltimore, Maryland
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Baltimore, 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.
Baltimore City Public Schools is its own district, separate from the Baltimore County system that surrounds it. Elementary schools are zoned by address. After that, families choose. Fifth and eighth graders rank schools in a choice application that is open from December to late January, with placements in March. Four high schools, Poly, City College, Western and Dunbar, have entrance criteria based on a composite score built from grades and state test results. Baltimore School for the Arts admits by audition. Charter schools hold their own lotteries.
State tests Baltimore students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | MSTAR | MSTAR | MSTAR | MSTAR | MSTAR | MSTAR | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | MSTAR | MSTAR | MSTAR | MSTAR | MSTAR | MSTAR | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | MCAP Science | Not tested | Not tested | MCAP Science | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- MSTAR (Maryland System of Testing Academic Readiness): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- MCAP Science (Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, Maryland Integrated Science Assessment): science, grades 5 and 8
For students who entered ninth grade in 2023-24 or later, the life science and government exams count for 20 percent of the final course grade. There is no passing score to reach, but the result changes the grade a student needs in class to earn the credit.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Maryland 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 MSTAR. 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 Towson, Catonsville, Dundalk, Pikesville, Parkville and Glen Burnie as it does in Baltimore.
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 Baltimore, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Baltimore City Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Johns Hopkins University, Morgan State University, University of Maryland, Baltimore County or Towson University, 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.