Tutoring in Houston, Texas
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Houston, 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.
Houston ISD describes itself as an open-enrollment district of choice and runs a single application for its magnet, Vanguard, Montessori, language and early college programs. A family can rank up to 10 schools or programs on it. The first phase opens in December and closes in February, seats are assigned by lottery, and families hear back in March. Houston ISD does not cover the whole city, though. Aldine, Alief, Spring Branch, Cypress-Fairbanks, Pasadena and Clear Creek ISDs each serve parts of it, with their own calendars and their own transfer rules.
State tests Houston students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | STAAR | STAAR | STAAR | STAAR | STAAR | STAAR | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | STAAR | STAAR | STAAR | STAAR | STAAR | STAAR | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | STAAR | Not tested | Not tested | STAAR | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- STAAR: science, grades 5 and 8
The English II exam stops being a graduation requirement for students who graduate after August 31, 2027, but anyone enrolled in English II during 2026-27 still has to sit it. Every end-of-course exam is offered again in December and June, so a student who misses the passing mark in April has two more dates before the next school year.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Texas 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 STAAR. 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 Pasadena, Bellaire, Sugar Land, Katy, Pearland and Humble as it does in Houston.
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 Houston, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Houston ISD can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at University of Houston, Rice University, Texas Southern University or Houston Community 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.