SAT and ACT prep in Massachusetts
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Massachusetts, 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.
Massachusetts does not pay for a statewide SAT or ACT day. Registering is up to the family, though some districts run a school-day test of their own, and the school counselor will know. The main testing window is late March to late May, with high school science in early June.
A practice test measures. It does not teach.
Most SAT and ACT prep is practice tests, and a practice test tells a student the score without saying why. A student stuck at the same math score after four of them does not need a fifth. They need to know which skills the missed questions have in common, and it is usually a short list from Algebra I and geometry.
Both tests changed recently. The SAT is taken on a screen, and the second half of each section gets easier or harder depending on how the first half went. The ACT got shorter in 2025 and its science section became optional. Old prep books describe tests that no longer exist.
The problem on the page
A line passes through (2, 5) and (6, 13). Where does it cross the y-axis?
Linear functions in a word problem
SAT and ACT math
Slope-intercept form
Algebra I · rests on the one below
Slope from two points
Grade 8 · usually where it started
Subtracting signed numbers
Grade 7
What Massachusetts tests, by grade
| 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
Testing dates, graduation rules and the one deadline families miss are on a separate page. Massachusetts guide
Kolu finds the missing skill and goes back to it
Kolu is not a test-prep course and has no official practice tests. Use the free ones, which are Bluebook from the College Board for the SAT and the practice test on act.org. Then bring the result to Kolu. Tell it which kinds of questions were missed, and it builds a map of those skills, finds the ones that are not solid, and practices them with review spread over the weeks before the test.
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.
When to hire a person instead
With less than a month to go, a human coach who can teach pacing and when to guess is worth more than skill-building, which needs more time than that.
Ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. A nearby college is the next place to look, since students there 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.