Erin Stafford leads collaborative research and evaluations that focus on improving learning in pre-K–12 education, out-of-school time, and cultural institutions. She specializes in mixed-methods evaluations, evaluation capacity building, program development, community engagement, and logic model facilitation.

Stafford leads EDC’s National Park Foundation (NPF) Evaluation and Learning Partnership, which is conducting studies of five NPF grant programs and initiatives designed to increase use of national parks. She was the co-principal investigator of the national convening “Advancing the Conversation on Scaling National Informal STEM Programs.” She has evaluated initiatives for the U.S. Department of Education, NOAA, National Science Foundation, and Institute for Museums and Library Services, among others.

Stafford has published in the Journal of Online Research, the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, and Afterschool Matters. Before joining EDC, she was a manager of evaluation, assessment, and research for Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

Stafford holds an MA in Social and Cultural Foundations in Education from DePaul University and a BA in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis.