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.
Dr. Leggie [Leh ‘jee] Boone is a Forensic Analyst, Author, and Educator. Dr. Boone’s main fields of interest are vicarious traumatization, organizational support and civilian relations, implicit bias in crime scene attendance, personal impact of law enforcement suicide, and active dreaming. Her research has explored how trauma exposure, tenure, and education influence performance effectiveness and perceived organizational support for crime scene investigators. She has also explored contributors to law enforcement suicide and the policies accessible for awareness and intervention.
Dr. Boone has been involved in forensic sciences since 1993 in various positions, including autopsy technician volunteer, crime scene investigator, educator, and evidence analyst. Her undergraduate degree in Biology was the foundation for her earlier employment. As a civilian investigator, she developed self-reliance in coping with the tragedies of criminal violations daily. Sometimes, Dr. Boone’s method of decompression included writing songs and crime scene poetry, singing, and journaling graphically detailed dreams.
Dr. Boone has worked as an educator in Baltimore County, Maryland schools and colleges, teaching sciences including Biology, Environmental Science, Paramedical Biology, and Forensic Science. While teaching, Dr. Boone completed her master’s degree in Forensic Science and Investigation through National University. On both sides of her teaching years, Dr. Boone processed thousands of crime scenes. Her crime scene and teaching experiences allowed Dr. Boone to collaborate on the publishing of the forensic textbook and virtual component, So You Want to Be a CSI, with two other former CSIs, Kendall Hunt Publishing, and Victory XR. Dr. Boone also coauthored and published Fox Tails: Short, Short Stories Written While Puppysitting, she has multiple poems and song lyrics published in books and magazines. Someday, My Prints Will Come is among her recent publications, functioning as a learning tool and activity book focused on the study of fingerprints. Dear Dream Maker is her newest book, presenting years of journaled dreams. Volume 2 of the Dear Dream Maker series was published in 2025.
Dr. Boone has taught as an adjunct professor with Keiser University in Florida, in the Crime Scene Technology program, teaching several courses including Field Investigative Procedures, Biological Evidence, Forensic Imaging, and Legal Aspects of Forensic Careers. She has also been an invited speaker in many international conferences, including the Global Science Guild, Worldwide Association of Women Forensic Experts, and the Caribbean Association of Forensic Sciences, and she is a Senior Adjunct Faculty member for the Sherlock Institute of Forensic Sciences, India.
Dr. Boone has also been active in her community through her Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and NAACP memberships, and affiliation with multiple civic organizations. In 2020, Dr. Boone attained her Ph.D. and Master of Philosophy in Public Policy and Administration, in Criminal Justice through Walden University, with the goal of improving policies and curricula in collegiate forensic sciences and law enforcement agency crime scene investigation training. Through it all, she still dreams vividly, in the midst of producing volumes for interpretation, enlightenment or entertainment. Dr. Boone is inspired by the constant support of her mother and daughter, both named Leggie, and she is driven by her faith to be an author, a leader, and an agent of social change.
CRJS 6201 - Psychological Aspects of Violent Crime
FPSY 6002 - Foundations of Graduate Study in Psychology
PhD, Walden University
MS, National University
BS, Frostburg State University
Boone, L. (2021). So You Want to be a CSI.
Boone, L. (2022). Succession in the Forensic Unit. Gap Science
Boone, L. (2023). Vicarious Trauma versus Wellness, when ‘Every Contact Leaves a Trace’ in Forensic Professions. Global Science Guild
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