Tutoring in New Mexico
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in New Mexico, 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.
New Mexico gives the NM-MSSA in language arts and math to every student in grades 3 to 8, in a window that runs from mid-March to the end of April. Science is tested separately, with the NM-ASR in grades 5, 8 and 11. High school has no state-written reading or math test. Juniors take the SAT on a school day in March or April, and that score is what the state reports for eleventh grade. The state also offers the PSAT 8/9 to ninth graders and the PSAT/NMSQT free to tenth graders each October, but most schools are not required to give either one, so ask whether your child will sit it.
What New Mexico tests, and when
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | NM-MSSA | NM-MSSA | NM-MSSA | NM-MSSA | NM-MSSA | NM-MSSA | Not tested | Not tested | SAT | Not tested |
| Math | NM-MSSA | NM-MSSA | NM-MSSA | NM-MSSA | NM-MSSA | NM-MSSA | Not tested | Not tested | SAT | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | NM-ASR | Not tested | Not tested | NM-ASR | Not tested | Not tested | NM-ASR | Not tested |
- NM-MSSA (New Mexico Measures of Student Success and Achievement): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- NM-ASR (New Mexico Assessment of Science Readiness): science, grades 5, 8 and 11
- SAT: reading and writing, math, grade 11
- Main testing window
- early March to the end of April
- Standards
- New Mexico Common Core State Standards for math and language arts, and the NM STEM Ready Science Standards
- Paid for by the state
- SAT, grade 11, on a school day
The school-day SAT is given once, in a window from early March to late April of junior year. A student who misses it can make it up as a senior, but only as a make-up, so it is worth knowing the school’s test date before planning spring travel or a weekend SAT.
Is there a graduation test in New Mexico?
No. Under the graduation law signed in 2024, students no longer have to demonstrate competency on a state test to earn a diploma, though juniors must still take the SAT and the state science test and every course ends with a final exam.
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 NM-MSSA. 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.