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We adapted McLoyd's (1990) model of economic hardship and socioemotional development of African American children in order to examine correlates of academic achievement in African American families. McLoyd's model, based on a review of previous literature, suggested that economic hardship increased parental psychological distress and which in turn resulted in less supportive parental behavior. Our data analyses examined correlates of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test, two standardized measures of children's language ability and academic achievement, for African American children between the ages of 4 and 9. Because chronic poverty tends to have different effects than transitory poverty (Duncan et al., 1984), we combined three consecutive years of poverty status as a measurement of economic hardship. The Center for Epidemiological Studies--Depression, a self-report measure of maternal depression, and a short form of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment, an observation and survey of the home environment, measured parental psychological distress and parenting practices. A series of multiple regression analyses indicated that African American children's academic success is related to lower maternal depression, fewer years in poverty, and a positive home environment.