• 44 questions

Kentucky KSA Grade 5 Social Studies Practice Test

Civics, economics, geography and history in equal parts, from the thirteen colonies to the Constitution, with Kentucky's own strands.

Under the Articles of Confederation, how was power shared between the states and the central government?

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Exam mode: 40 questions, 120 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Kentucky Department of Education. Bank checked October 13, 2026.

The real test: KSA social studies, grade 5

Questions
40
Time limit
120 minutes
Layout
39 to 40 questions in two parts, on four test forms, with 15 passages. The figures are from the state's 2025-26 items and times chart.
Question types
Multiple choice (1 point), multiple select, technology enhanced and short answer (2 points each) and extended response (4 points).
Domains
Civics, economics, geography and history, 25 percent each. Half of the items in each also measure the inquiry practices.
Standards
A grade-span test: the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies of kindergarten through grade 5.
Scores
A scale score and one of four performance levels: Novice, Apprentice, Proficient, Distinguished.

Checked October 13, 2026 against the Kentucky Summative Assessment page, the 2025-2026 Testing Items and Times Chart and the Social Studies Blueprint, Kentucky Department of Education. Rules change, so confirm with the agency itself before your test.

The state's Kentucky Summative Assessment page

Next step KSA social studies, grade 8More grade 5 social studies

All 44 questions

Civics 11

  • Colonists were not represented in the British government that had power over them. Which processes did they use to try to change British laws? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.C.PR.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • The Constitution divides the powers of government between the national government and the state and local governments. What is this arrangement called? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.C.CP.3; Terms for the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (the department's glossary)
  • How did the self-government of Colonial America compare with a monarchy? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.C.CP.2 and its disciplinary clarification
  • The president nominates a person to be a federal judge. What must happen before that person becomes a judge? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.C.CP.2 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Under the Articles of Confederation, how was power shared between the states and the central government? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.C.CP.1 and its disciplinary clarification
Show all 44 questions (39 more)

Civics, continued

  • The United States today is a representative democracy. How are its laws made? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 3.C.PR.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • What is a monarchy? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 3.C.CP.2; Terms for the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (the department's glossary)
  • Which branch of the United States government makes the laws? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.C.CP.2 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Which democratic principle says that a government's authority should depend on the agreement of the people, as expressed by their votes in elections? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.C.CV.1; Terms for the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (the department's glossary)
  • Which goal of American government is stated in the Preamble to the Constitution? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.C.PR.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Which was a form of self-government in Jamestown, the first permanent English colony? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.C.CP.1 and its disciplinary clarification

Economics 11

  • A family moves to a new colony for the chance to own land. To go, they give up the shop they ran at home. In economics, what is the shop they gave up? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.E.IC.1; Terms for the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (the department's glossary)
  • A shop owner sets out 10 baskets for sale, and 15 customers want to buy one. What will most likely happen to the price of a basket? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 3.E.MI.2 and its disciplinary clarification
  • The British empire needed many ships for its navy. What did this high demand lead to in its American colonies? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.E.MI.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • The colonies were required to sell raw materials to Great Britain, the mother country, for low prices. How did this affect the colonial economy? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.E.MA.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Colonists in Jamestown grew tobacco to meet a rising demand for it in England. Why did this make the colony economically successful? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.E.MI.2 and its disciplinary clarification
  • New England had swift-moving rivers, a good resource for running factories. What did this give New England over the farming economy of the South? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.E.ST.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • New England's factories spun cotton, but the cotton was grown in the South. What does this show about the two regions? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.E.ST.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • People come to Kentucky from across the world for its horse breeding and racing. How does this specialization help the state? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 3.E.KE.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Producers in colonial Kentucky had an abundance of land and grew more crops than they needed. What did they do with the surplus? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.E.KE.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • What incentive drew many colonists to Kentucky? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.E.KE.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Why does the government collect taxes? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.E.MA.1 and its disciplinary clarification

Geography 11

  • The Appalachian Mountains were a barrier for colonists who wanted to move west. Which geographic feature gave them a way through? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.G.HE.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Charleston, Philadelphia and Boston grew into large cities in the early United States. What did their locations have in common? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.G.GR.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • European immigrants, people forced to migrate from Africa and many American Indian groups all lived in early America. What happened to their different traditions and customs? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.G.HI.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • How did most early pioneers in Kentucky provide for their families? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.G.KGE.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • New England had rocky soil that was not ideal for farming. Which industries did the region rely on instead? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.G.GR.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • What are the factors that drive people away from one place and draw them to a new place called? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.G.HE.1; Terms for the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (the department's glossary)
  • Which of these describes an absolute location? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.G.GR.1; Terms for the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (the department's glossary)
  • Which of these is a way the culture of one region spreads beyond its borders? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 3.G.HI.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Which of these is an example of forced migration to the thirteen colonies? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.G.MM.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Which physical features restricted the movement of people in the early United States? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.G.MM.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Why might workers today choose to move from the countryside to a city? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 3.G.MM.1 and its disciplinary clarification

History 11

  • A student is studying the causes of the American Revolution. Which of these would be a primary source? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.I.UE.2; Terms for the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (the department's glossary)
  • Federalists and Anti-Federalists disagreed about the rights of individuals and the power of the central government. What did their debate lead to? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.H.CO.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • How did European exploration affect the American Indians living in Kentucky? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 3.H.KH.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • What part did Kentucky settlers play in the American Revolution? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.H.KH.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • What was a continuous source of conflict between American Indians and European colonists? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.H.CO.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • When the Constitution was being written, representatives from Virginia and from New Jersey wanted the legislature built in different ways. What compromise settled the argument? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.H.CO.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Which colonial region offered freedom of religion and so attracted diverse groups such as the Quakers? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.H.CE.2 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Which event increased tension between the colonists and Great Britain before the American Revolution? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.H.CE.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Which is an example of collaboration between American Indians and European colonists? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 4.H.CO.1 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Which of these did Benjamin Franklin invent? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 5.H.CH.2 and its disciplinary clarification
  • Which tool shows events in the order in which they happened? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), standard 3.H.CH.1; Terms for the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (the department's glossary)

How this list was compiled: Outline: Social Studies Blueprint, Grades 5, 8 and High School (Kentucky Department of Education, Office of Assessment and Accountability, 6 August 2020), https://www.education.ky.gov/AA/Acct/Documents/FINAL%20Social%20Studies%20Blueprint%2020200806.pdf, linked from the department's Assessment Blueprints page, https://www.education.ky.gov/AA/Acct/Pages/Blueprint.aspx, read 2026-10-13. Each question names the standard it practices in the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies (December 2022), https://education.ky.gov/curriculum/standards/kyacadstand/Documents/Kentucky_Academic_Standards_for_Social_Studies.pdf, read 2026-10-13, and each fact is one the standard's disciplinary clarification states, or a definition in the department's Terms for the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies, https://education.ky.gov/curriculum/standards/kyacadstand/Documents/KAS_for_Social_Studies_Glossary_of_Terms.pdf, read 2026-10-13. Where a question names the glossary, the definition is the glossary's. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from a Kentucky Summative Assessment, a K-PREP test, a released or sample item or another practice test.

How it works

Unofficial practice for the social studies test Kentucky fifth graders take, part of the Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA). The questions were written for this site from the state's standards and their glossary. Not affiliated with the Kentucky Department of Education.

Read the full guide

What the 5th grade social studies test covers

Kentucky's blueprint gives civics, economics, geography and history 25 percent each, and half of the items in each also measure the inquiry practices. The grade 5 test is a grade-span test that may draw on the standards of kindergarten through grade 5. So the settling of the colonies, the grade 4 course, sits beside the grade 5 course, Colonization to Constitution: the Revolution, the Articles of Confederation, the three branches and the Bill of Rights.

Kentucky's own strands

Every grade's standards carry Kentucky strands: the Cumberland Gap, pioneers who lived by subsistence farming, the militia of a place that was not yet a state. Under each answer is its standard, such as 5.H.KH.1.

  • Words from the state's grade 5 vocabulary list: popular sovereignty, checks and balances, federal system, inalienable rights, opportunity cost, veto.

Questions and answers

How many questions are on the KSA grade 5 social studies test?

The state's 2025-26 items and times chart lists 39 to 40 questions in two parts, set to 15 passages. Most are multiple choice; a few are multiple-select, technology-enhanced, short-answer and extended-response questions.

How long is the 5th grade social studies KSA?

120 minutes, by the 2025-26 chart. Kentucky tests social studies once in each grade band, in grades 5, 8 and 11.

How is the grade 5 social studies KSA scored?

Students do not pass or fail by a percent. The report gives a scale score and a performance level: Novice, Apprentice, Proficient or Distinguished.

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