Tutoring in Memphis, Tennessee
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Memphis, 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.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools serves the city and the unincorporated parts of the county, but six suburbs run their own districts. Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland and Millington each have a separate school board, so crossing a city limit changes the district. Within Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the Optional Schools program offers themed schools such as college prep, International Baccalaureate and performing arts, with entrance requirements that vary by program. A general choice transfer covers moves to other schools. Southaven, just south, is in Mississippi and takes Mississippi tests.
State tests Memphis students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | TCAP | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- TCAP (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program): reading and writing, math, science, grades 3 through 8
A third grader who scores "below" or "approaching" on the English language arts part of TCAP is not promoted to fourth grade automatically. The routes forward are a retake, summer camp and assigned tutoring in fourth grade, and which ones apply depends on the score.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Tennessee 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 TCAP. 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 Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville, Millington, Lakeland and Southaven as it does in Memphis.
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 Memphis, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Memphis-Shelby County Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at University of Memphis, Rhodes College, Christian Brothers University or LeMoyne-Owen College, 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.