Tutoring in Salem, Oregon
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Salem, 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.
One district, Salem-Keizer Public Schools, serves both Salem and the neighboring city of Keizer. It has six traditional high schools. McKay, North Salem, South Salem, Sprague and West Salem are in Salem, and McNary is in Keizer. Attendance follows the address unless the district approves a transfer. The Career Technical Education Center, known as CTEC, is a separate high school built around career programs. The district also has an Early College High School, the EDGE online school, and charter schools such as Valley Inquiry.
State tests Salem students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | OSAS | OSAS | OSAS | OSAS | OSAS | OSAS | Not tested | Not tested | OSAS | Not tested |
| Math | OSAS | OSAS | OSAS | OSAS | OSAS | OSAS | Not tested | Not tested | OSAS | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | OSAS Science | Not tested | Not tested | OSAS Science | Not tested | Not tested | OSAS Science | Not tested |
- OSAS (Oregon Statewide Assessment System): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8 and 11
- OSAS Science: science, grades 5, 8 and 11
The essential skills graduation requirement is paused, not repealed. The suspension runs through the 2027-28 school year, so families of current middle schoolers should check what the State Board of Education decides for later classes.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Oregon 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 OSAS. 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 Keizer, Silverton, Dallas, Monmouth, Woodburn and Stayton as it does in Salem.
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 Salem, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Salem-Keizer Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Willamette University, Chemeketa Community College or Corban 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.