Tutoring in St. Louis, Missouri
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in St. Louis, 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.
St. Louis city and St. Louis County are separate governments, and the school map follows that line. Saint Louis Public Schools is the one district for the city. The county next door has its own districts, among them Clayton, Kirkwood, Webster Groves and University City. Within the city, families choose among neighborhood schools, the district's magnet and choice schools, and independent charter schools. The district's options include gifted programs, Montessori schools and themed high schools such as Metro and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience.
State tests St. Louis students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | MAP Grade-Level | MAP Grade-Level | MAP Grade-Level | MAP Grade-Level | MAP Grade-Level | MAP Grade-Level | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | MAP Grade-Level | MAP Grade-Level | MAP Grade-Level | MAP Grade-Level | MAP Grade-Level | MAP Grade-Level | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | MAP Grade-Level Science | Not tested | Not tested | MAP Grade-Level Science | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- MAP Grade-Level (Missouri Assessment Program Grade-Level Assessments): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- MAP Grade-Level Science: science, grades 5 and 8
The A+ Scholarship requires a score of proficient or advanced on the Algebra I end-of-course exam, or on a higher-level math end-of-course exam. A student who takes Algebra I in middle school is sitting a test that counts toward that scholarship years later.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Missouri 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 MAP Grade-Level. 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 Clayton, University City, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Maplewood and Florissant as it does in St. Louis.
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. Louis, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Saint Louis Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University, Harris-Stowe State University or University of Missouri-St. Louis, 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.