Tutoring in St. Paul, Minnesota
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in St. Paul, 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.
Saint Paul Public Schools divides the city into six lettered areas, A through F, and each has community schools that give priority to children living in that area and in the school zone. Magnet schools draw from a region or the whole district and offer programs such as language immersion, aerospace and arts. A student accepted into a magnet keeps a reserved seat at the next level of that program. New students, and anyone asking for a different school, apply through the Student Placement Center before a priority deadline in February. Even a community school can fill up.
State tests St. Paul students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | MCA | MCA | MCA | MCA | MCA | MCA | Not tested | MCA | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | MCA | MCA | MCA | MCA | MCA | MCA | Not tested | Not tested | MCA | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | MCA | Not tested | Not tested | MCA | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- MCA (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments): reading and writing, grades 3 through 8 and 10
- MCA: math, grades 3 through 8 and 11
- MCA: science, grades 5 and 8
The ACT or SAT is not part of state testing in Minnesota. Districts have to offer one of them on a school day to eleventh and twelfth graders, so ask the high school which test it gives and on what date.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Minnesota 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 MCA. 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 Minneapolis, Roseville, Maplewood, Woodbury, West St. Paul and Mendota Heights as it does in St. Paul.
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 St. Paul, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Saint Paul Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at University of St. Thomas, Macalester College, Metropolitan State University or Saint Paul 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.