Tutoring in Mississippi
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Mississippi, 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.
MAAP, the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, tests English language arts and math in grades 3 to 8 and science in grades 5 and 8. Third graders go first, in early April, because their reading result decides promotion. Everyone else tests from late April to late May. High school has three end-of-course exams, in Algebra I, English II and Biology, with a fall sitting as well as the spring one. The U.S. History exam was dropped beginning in 2025-26, though the course is still required. Every public school student classified as a junior also takes the ACT at school in the spring. It is one sitting, covering English, math, reading and science.
What Mississippi tests, and when
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | MAAP | MAAP | MAAP | MAAP | MAAP | MAAP | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | MAAP | MAAP | MAAP | MAAP | MAAP | MAAP | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | MAAP | Not tested | Not tested | MAAP | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- MAAP (Mississippi Academic Assessment Program): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- MAAP: science, grades 5 and 8
- Main testing window
- late April to late May, with third-grade English language arts in early April
- Standards
- Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards
- Paid for by the state
- ACT, grade 11, on a school day
- Exams tied to a course
- Algebra I, English II and Biology (MAAP end-of-course assessments)
Under the Literacy-Based Promotion Act, a third grader must reach Level 3 on the reading portion of the MAAP English language arts test, given April 5 to 16 in 2027, to move to fourth grade. There are two retests, one in mid-May and one in late June.
Is there a graduation test in Mississippi?
Yes. A student must pass the Algebra I, English II and Biology end-of-course tests or meet one of the substitute options the State Board allows, such as an ACT subject score of 17 or a C in a matching dual-credit course.
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 MAAP. 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
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.
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.