The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of African American children's oral language skills with the intention of building the understanding of how these skills translate to classroom contexts. The chapter also summarizes the goals of the Common Core that are specifically related to speaking and listening and describes how African American children might meet these goals. [For the complete volume, "African American Children in Early Childhood Education: Making the Case for Policy Investments in Families, Schools, and Communities. Advances in Race and Ethnicity in Education. Volume 5," see ED663675.]