I can't seem to beat the $5 or $6

[RyanJM]

Regardless of what you've been doing, try experimenting. Try calling preflop more frequently than raising. Figure out your opponents' weaknesses. Most likely, you're playing people who will hold on to any piece with a death-grip. Therefore, you need to push any strong hand that connects with the board as hard as possible. A lot of bad players make the most critical mistakes post-flop, so it's sometimes beneficial to just call and see every flop you can and go from there. You should almost never bluff a big pot against players at this level.
Others are more solid and you need to be more aggressive. I hesitate to tell you the exact specific steps that I've found work best because everyone has their own style. Just keep experimenting until your results improve.