To better understand the effects of the family on the reading achievement of black children, a study examined the relative influence of specific maternal variables and the family socioeconomic status (SES) on reading achievement. A total of 31 mother-child dyads were selected from a university reading clinic, with the children aged 7 through 11 years. The children were given two reading tests and an intelligence test, and their mothers were individually interviewed to gather information on family characteristics and background and the mothers' estimates and expectancies of their children's reading ability. The mothers also completed an attitude scale. A multiple regression model was employed to determine the joint and unique contributions of the family variables to reading achievement. The input variables included the mother's nonacceptance of the child, her predictions and her expectations of the child's grade level in reading, and the family SES. To control for the effects of ability, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary test was administered to the students. The resulting data indicated that the maternal subset of variables significantly and nontrivially accounted for a substantial amount of the variation in reading achievement. Further, the amount of variation accounted for by the maternal composite was far greater than that accounted for by SES. (HTH)