Tutoring in West Virginia
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in West Virginia, 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.
West Virginia gives the General Summative Assessment, the WVGSA, online each spring in grades 3 through 8. It covers English language arts and math in every one of those grades and adds science in grades 5 and 8. No statewide summative test is given in ninth or tenth grade. In eleventh grade the state test is the SAT, taken on a school day at no cost to the family, and it includes science questions that produce a separate science score. So the test a junior sits for the state is the same one colleges read. West Virginia has no end-of-course exams, and no test score is required for a diploma, which rests on course credits.
What West Virginia tests, and when
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | WVGSA | WVGSA | WVGSA | WVGSA | WVGSA | WVGSA | Not tested | Not tested | SAT School Day | Not tested |
| Math | WVGSA | WVGSA | WVGSA | WVGSA | WVGSA | WVGSA | Not tested | Not tested | SAT School Day | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | WVGSA Science | Not tested | Not tested | WVGSA Science | Not tested | Not tested | SAT School Day | Not tested |
- WVGSA (West Virginia General Summative Assessment): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- WVGSA Science: science, grades 5 and 8
- SAT School Day: reading and writing, math, science, grade 11
- Main testing window
- mid-April to late May for grades 3 to 8, with the grade 11 SAT in April
- Standards
- West Virginia College- and Career-Readiness Standards
- Paid for by the state
- SAT, grade 11, on a school day
The Third Grade Success Act takes full effect in 2026-27. A third grader who scores in the "does not meet standard" range in English language arts or math on the WVGSA is to be held back on the recommendation of the teacher and the school's student assistance team, unless one of the exemptions in the law applies.
Is there a graduation test in West Virginia?
No. A diploma depends on course credits set by the State Board of Education, and no score on the WVGSA or the SAT is required.
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 WVGSA. 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.