The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the alignment of teacher preparation program courses on effectively teaching early literacy skills to best practices in foundational literacy instruction. This study identified current best practices for instruction on foundational literacy skills and compared course syllabi provided by three different institutions on the same subject teacher preparation programs are providing. The following was the primary research question used to guide the research. In what ways do the course syllabi for three teacher preparation programs in the Southeastern region of the United States align with research-based best practices for early literacy instruction? The theoretical framework for this study was the emergent reader theory. The emergent reader theory is a student-centered theory focusing on literacy instruction taking place in the primary grades. The setting for this study took place in the Southeastern region of the United States and focused on three higher education institutions. The data included course syllabi from each institution's teacher preparation program pertaining to early literacy instruction. Once analyzed the data synthesis was presented thematically to the reader. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]