Dr. E. D. Hirsch, is an American educator and academic literary critic. He is professor emeritus of education and humanities at the University of Virginia.
Hirsch is the founder and chairman of the non-profit Core Knowledge Foundation, which published the Core Knowledge Sequence and, starting in the 1990s, eight books as part of the Core Knowledge Grader Series of books. The series begins What Your Preschooler Needs to Know and ends with What Your Sixth Grader Needs to Know. The books have been particularly popular with parents who homeschool, as well as parents whose children attend Core Knowledge schools, and have been revised and updated over the years.