View our EdD Early Childhood specialization completion requirements
Minimum degree requirements:
60 quarter credits
- Core courses (50 cr.)
- Capstone (10 cr.)
Minimum degree requirements:
60 quarter credits
Courses
In the EdD Early Childhood Education specialization, you’ll build skills and progress toward your final capstone project in every course.
Disclaimers: Walden students have up to 8 years to complete their doctoral program unless they petition for an extension.
In general, students are continuously registered in the dissertation/doctoral study course until they complete their capstone project and it is approved. This usually takes longer than the minimum required terms in the dissertation/doctoral study course shell.
To complete a doctoral dissertation, students must obtain the academic approval of several independent evaluators including their committee, the University Research Reviewer, and the Institutional Review Board; pass the Form and Style Review; gain approval at the oral defense stage; and gain final approval by the Chief Academic Officer. Students must also publish their dissertation on ProQuest before their degree is conferred. Learn more about the dissertation process in the Dissertation Guidebook.
For a personalized estimate of the number of your transfer credits that Walden would accept, call an Enrollment Specialist at 844-937-8785.
Courses
PhD completion program courses help you return to doctoral work, match with an advisor, and stay on track to finishing your dissertation.
Disclaimers: Walden students have up to 8 years to complete their doctoral program unless they petition for an extension.
In general, students are continuously registered in the dissertation/doctoral study course until they complete their capstone project and it is approved. This usually takes longer than the minimum required terms in the dissertation/doctoral study course shell.
To complete a doctoral dissertation, students must obtain the academic approval of several independent evaluators including their committee, the University Research Reviewer, and the Institutional Review Board; pass the Form and Style Review; gain approval at the oral defense stage; and gain final approval by the Chief Academic Officer. Students must also publish their dissertation on ProQuest before their degree is conferred. Learn more about the dissertation process in the Dissertation Guidebook.
For a personalized estimate of the number of your transfer credits that Walden would accept, call an Enrollment Specialist at 844-937-8785.
Courses
Develop the skills and confidence you need to tackle complex managerial challenges, contribute new knowledge, or teach at the graduate level.
Courses
Develop the skills and confidence needed for complex managerial challenges and research with Walden’s ACBSP-accredited PhD program.
Discover career opportunities in your area that match your interests.
In 2006, Dr. Danielle McDonald received her Ph.D. in criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She has been teaching criminal justice courses in the online college classroom since graduation. Her research primarily focuses on community corrections, reentry, student philanthropy, and how people experience the criminal justice differently based on race, class, and gender. She also is a co-author of the book "Race, Gender, Class, and Criminal Justice: Examining Barriers to Justice" published in 2023 by Carolina Academic Press. Currently, in its 2nd edition with a third edition coming out soon.
PhD, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
MA, Virginia Tech
BA, West Virginia University
Outstanding Service Award - ACJS Corrections Secti, ProfessionalActivities, 2011
Sage Professional Development Teaching Award, ACJS, 2009
McDonald, Danielle & Jonson, Cheryl., Mcdonald, D. (2013). "Easing the Transition from Prison to the Community: An Evaluation of a Second Chance Act Mentoring Grant. " Contemporary Journal of Anthropology and Sociology
Mcdonald, D. (2009). "Empowering Female Inmates: An Exploratory Study of a Therapeutic Community and Its Impact on the Coping Skills of Substance Abusing Female Inmates". International Journal of Therapeutic Communities
Mcdonald, D. (2008). "Gender Responsive Treatment and the Need to Examine Female Inmate's Lives in Prison and Prior to Prison". Corrections Compendium
McDonald, Danielle & Arlinghaus, Staci., Mcdonald, D. (2014). "The role of intensive case management services in reentry: The Northern Kentucky Female Offender Reentry Project. " Journal of Women and Criminal Justice
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