The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate elementary school teachers' self-perceived beliefs regarding African-American English (AAE), and their professional preparedness to address linguistic needs of AA students in the classrooms. The findings revealed three central issues: (1) teachers had limited understanding of the linguistic features of AAE, (2) teachers believed they had limited pedagogical skills to address issues related to AAE, and (3) teachers indicated that teacher education programs at the pre-service level were inadequate in preparing them for teaching students who spoke AAE in the classrooms. The study has implications for teachers' in-service training needs regarding culturally responsive education, as well as for teacher educators in teacher preparation programs to revisit the curricula as part of education reform. Implications and recommendations for teacher preparation and program implementation are provided. (Contains 4 figures and 7 tables.)