Tutoring in Boston, Massachusetts
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Boston, 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.
Boston Public Schools does not draw neighborhood attendance lines. For kindergarten through grade 8, each family gets a list of schools built from its home address, ranks them, and is assigned by an algorithm that works like a lottery. High schools are open to students from anywhere in the city. Three exam schools, Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy and the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, admit new students in grades 7 and 9. Admission uses a composite of grades and the MAP Growth test, with grades weighted more heavily.
State tests Boston students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | MCAS | MCAS | MCAS | MCAS | MCAS | MCAS | Not tested | MCAS | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | MCAS | MCAS | MCAS | MCAS | MCAS | MCAS | Not tested | MCAS | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | MCAS Science and Technology/Engineering | Not tested | Not tested | MCAS Science and Technology/Engineering | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8 and 10
- MCAS Science and Technology/Engineering: science, grades 5 and 8
The grade 10 MCAS still carries money. The John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, a tuition credit at Massachusetts public colleges, goes by a student's first attempt at those tests and by where the combined score falls within the district.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Massachusetts 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 MCAS. 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 Cambridge, Brookline, Somerville, Quincy, Newton and Chelsea as it does in Boston.
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 Boston, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Boston Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Boston University, Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts Boston or Boston 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.