Special education teacher preparation programs contribute to teacher quality. Colleges and universities are tasked with preparing student teachers and equipping them with the essential skills necessary for educating students with a wide range of learning and behavioral needs across various settings. High-quality special education teacher preparation programs are vital to ensuring teachers are well prepared for the multiple aspects of instructional planning and strategies. To gain an understanding of preparation practices, the current study employed a qualitative document analysis research design to ascertain the alignment of colleges and universities' schools of education written mission statements with their curriculum course descriptions in their catalog. School of educations' written mission statement and course description were collected from the catalog via the colleges and universities' websites. Qualitative data analysis revealed five themes in the collective mission statement: (a) innovation, (b) instructional evidence-/research-based practices, (c) behavioral evidence-/research-based practices, (d) collaboration, and (e) inclusivity. This document analysis revealed that institutions had a range of 36%-69% alignment of their special education preparation courses with the key themes of their mission statement, but when the student teaching and other field experiences were added in, the alignment percentage increased to 72%-96%. Findings and implications for special education teacher preparation programs were discussed, along with study limitations and recommendations for future research. [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://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]