Tutoring in Jackson, Mississippi
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Jackson, 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.
Jackson Public Schools serves the city, and its boundary stops at the city limit. Alongside its zoned schools the district lists several programs a student enters by application or qualification, among them the Academic and Performing Arts Complex (APAC), International Baccalaureate, an Early College High School and gifted education. The suburbs are split among separate districts. Clinton and Pearl each have their own, Ridgeland and Madison are in the Madison County School District, and Brandon and Flowood are in the Rankin County School District. All of them test third-grade reading in the same two weeks of April.
State tests Jackson students take
| 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
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.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Mississippi 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 MAAP. 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 Ridgeland, Madison, Clinton, Pearl, Brandon and Flowood as it does in Jackson.
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 Jackson, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Jackson Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Jackson State University, Millsaps College or Belhaven 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.