2 min read · Jul 15, 2026
Big news for Kentucky classrooms! The Core Knowledge Foundation is partnering with the state to build a new K-8 social studies curriculum, developed specifically for Kentucky.
During the Superintendents Webcast on July 7, the Kentucky Department of Education announced the new curriculum, “Our Commonwealth, Our Nation, Our World,” built around the state’s own academic standards, community, and history.
“Districts across the Commonwealth have consistently requested high-quality, standards-aligned social studies materials, and current market options often require significant local adaptation,” said Micki Ray Marinelli, KDE’s chief academic officer. The new curriculum integrates Core Knowledge’s coherent, cumulative approach to knowledge-building together with inquiry, all grounded in Kentucky’s own standards and content.
The name captures the scope of the curriculum, weaving together Kentucky’s people. places, stories, and history (Our Commonwealth) with U.S. history and civics (Our Nation) and world history and geography (Our World), building knowledge at every grade level.
Here’s what that means in practice:
For classroom teachers: “Our Commonwealth, Our Nation, Our World” will be entirely free to download, with low-cost print student readers, teacher guides, and student notebooks also available, along with comprehensive professional learning to support teachers as it rolls out.
For school and district leaders: This is a statewide undertaking at real scale – a full K-8 curriculum, free and open for any district that wants it. It’s a resource districts can opt into because it’s genuinely made for them. KDE, CKF, and our professional learning partners will provide guidance over the coming year around how best to plan for adoption and successful implementation.
For homeschooling families: Because the materials will be free and openly available, they’re worth watching too, whether as a core resource or a supplement to what you’re already using.
As Beth Battle Anderson, Core Knowledge’s CEO, puts it, this work applies decades of curriculum design expertise directly to Kentucky’s own academic standards.
Materials will arrive in phases, beginning with kindergarten and grades 3, 5, and 8 in time for the 2027-28 school year. Remaining grades will be released the following year.
For a state to choose to build something this ambitious, this collaboratively, and this openly is rare. The Core Knowledge Foundation is proud to help make it real for the students, educators, and families of Kentucky.
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